A ‘VICIOUS’ attack – in which the assailant ‘saw red’ when he repeatedly punched a man, stamped on his chest and kicked him to the head – left the victim unconscious and with a fractured eye socket.
But attacker Liam Adams then called for an ambulance himself, waited nearby until the ambulance and the police arrived, and he told officers what had happened, a judge at Warwick Crown Court has heard.
And it was those actions, and a magnanimous comment by his victim that he did not want the incident to ruin Adams’s life, which saved him from an immediate prison sentence.
Adams, 21, of Bond Street, Rugby, who had pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, was given an 18-month sentence suspended for two years, with a rehabilitation activity and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Omar Majid said that the victim bumped into an ex-girlfriend at the Midas night club – but he remembered nothing between dancing with her and waking up in hospital.
According to Adams, the victim had been ‘hassling’ him and the woman, who had gone to a nearby graveyard for a ‘spliff,’ and kept offering to walk her home.
Adams initially told an officer he got annoyed and had hit him once to the face – and he showed the officer his right hand which he said he thought might be broken.
“But he subsequently accepted he had seen red and had punched and kicked him several times, and had stamped on his chest and kicked him to the head,” said Mr Majid.
“(The victim) had been left on the ground unresponsive, with his jacket chucked on top of him, and passers-by simply thought he was a drunk.”
In fact it was Adams himself who called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes, and the victim was taken to hospital where he was found to have a fractured eye socket, a minor contusion to his brain and broken teeth.
Adams remained nearby, and someone heard the victim’s ex saying he was ‘out of order,’ and should not have kept kicking the victim, to which he had responded: “I don’t give a f***.”
Recorder Roger Evans complained that there was ‘no proper medical evidence’ of the victim’s injuries or the prognosis, but Mr Majid pointed out that he says he has made a full recovery.
Lucy Tapper, defending, said: “It is an unusual case in respect of the defendant’s actions. It isn’t often a defendant calls not only an ambulance, but the police to report himself.
“It is something the defendant regrets very deeply. It’s something he looks back on with absolute shame and repugnance – but he did absolutely the right thing almost immediately.
“When he called the ambulance, he didn’t leave the area until he knew the ambulance was coming. He didn’t stay with the complainant, but he did put his jacket over him.
“He has entered the dock with a bag. He has no expectations, he knows Your Honour will be contemplating a custodial sentence with immediate effect.”
She added that Adams, who had no previous convictions, had the opportunity of full-time work ‘if this matter is resolved in a way which allows him to take it up.’
Sentencing Adams, Recorder Evans commented that the victim had made ‘quite a robust’ impact statement, in which he seemed to be making light of the incident.
He pointed out that in the statement, the victim had said: “I don’t want this to ruin a young man’s life, but Liam should be made to face up to his responsibility.”
He told Adams: “But this is a serious matter. You have pleaded guilty to a vicious offence.
“It is right you more-or-less did the right thing after this appalling incident, and you were there when the ambulance, which you had summoned, arrived, and the police.”
“This was the first crime you had committed. Let’s hope it will be the last.”
