A MAN who told three young men to pick up litter that they had dropped in the street was subjected to a savage beating, a court was told yesterday.
Closed-circuit television pictures of the three attacking Raymond Beattie was shown to the court. The three men could be seen launching a “brutal and sustained” attack on their victim, who was knocked to the ground and then kicked and stamped on.
Bristol Crown Court heard how the men attacked Mr Beattie, 45, in broad daylight in the centre of Bristol. Danny Rich, 20, Craig Martin, 18, and Ricky Vockings, 20, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and were each sentenced to one year in a young offenders’ institute.
The Recorder Brian Lett told them: “It was a brutal and sustained attack. It was gravely dangerous to his health and future.
“Once you had knocked him down, you stamped on his body and head and kicked his prone body after he ceased to move. You well know how dangerous stamping on a prone person is.”
Advertisement
The court heard that Mr Beattie, who did not attend the hearing, had been reluctant to press charges but that police proceeded on the strength of the CCTV evidence.
Ian White, for the prosecution, told the court that the attack happened at 6.30pm on October 8 last year. He said that Mr Beattie had been “lucky” not to have sustained more serious injuries. The court heard all three defendants had been drinking heavily before the attack and were “deeply ashamed” of their actions.
James Wilson-Smith, defending Martin, said: “He made full admissions in interview and his remorse was obvious.
“My client’s recollection of what happened was limited due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He thinks there were remarks passed about the dropping of food. There must be some explanation as to why it started. Mr Martin says there was an exchange of some sort, but he doesn’t suggest that Mr Beattie was in any way to blame.
“He has obvious shame for his behaviour, this has very much been a wake-up call. At the time he was a binge drinker and it’s in drink this offence was committed. He has since changed his lifestyle since the offence and now drank very little.”
Advertisement
John Stokes, defending Rich, said: “The only explanation could be the over-consumption of intoxicants that afternoon. My client has not been before the court in the past and what happened amounted to a drunken escapade about which he expressed remorse.” Martin Lanchester, defending Vockings, said: “My client left school with nine GCSEs and had work assembling caravans. He has exhibited no swagger or bravado about what happened and represents a low risk of reoffending.”