Leamington drunk attacker to pay back £2,500 to his innocent victim

Matthew Edwards, aged 22, of Vincent Street, Leamington, had pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on victim Adam Wilson in the attack.

And at Warwick Crown Court he was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years, with 18 months supervision, and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

In addition, Judge Marten Coates imposed a three-month electronically-tagged curfew confining Edwards to his home from 10.15pm to 8am on the days he works and 6pm to 6am on Mondays and Tuesday, which are his days off.

Edwards was also ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to Mr Wilson, who the judge said had suffered “dreadful consequences” as a result of the attack.

Prosecutor Jonathan Veasey-Pugh said that at just after midnight on August 12 last year, Mr Wilson and two friends were crossing Warwick Street when he was approached by Edwards who, without warning, subjected him to an unprovoked attack.

It was a single blow, but plainly a “very forceful blow”, observed Mr Veasey-Pugh, who played a CCTV recording of the incident.

The two men then grappled with each-other and fell to the ground before other people intervened and separated them as Edwards tried to keep hold of his victim.

After they had been separated, Edwards removed his shirt and, bare-chested, appeared to be offering further violence.

Later, with his shirt back on, he can be seen with a female, with whom he had earlier seemed to have had an argument, walk away from the scene and, in a side street, punch two signs and hit the wing mirror of a car.

As a result of the attack Mr Wilson’s jaw was broken in two places, and one tooth was knocked out, while another had to be removed during the operation to insert metal plates into his jaw.

When Edwards, whose only previous convictions were driving matters, was arrested, although he admitted the assault, he claimed Mr Wilson had thrown the first punch.

But when he was shown the CCTV recording, he agreed it had been an unprovoked attack and appeared genuinely shocked, added Mr Veasey-Pugh.

Nick Devine, defending, said: “When he was shown the CCTV there was genuine shock, genuine regret and genuine shame.”

Mr Devine added that Edwards works as a chef in a town centre pub, working 12-hour shifts from 9.30 in the morning from Wednesdays to Sundays, taking home £225 a week.

Judge Coates told Edwards: “I take into consideration your age and that you have not got any previous convictions, and I do accept this offence was out of character. You do richly deserve to go to custody, but there are positive features.”