Zack High (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)
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A man who attacked a cocaine buyer inside a caravan – leaving him with a suspected broken jaw and multiple injuries – has been jailed.
⚖️ Zack Ian Craig High, 26, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court to 18 months in prison after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He will serve 40% of the term behind bars before being released on licence.
The drug deal
In the early hours of 29 January, the complainant arranged to buy cocaine from a man he knew and was directed to an address in Pembroke Dock. From there, he was sent to a caravan parked behind another house, and while walking over was instructed by phone to make payment online.
Prosecutor Sian Cutter told the court that when the victim arrived at the caravan, he found two men inside – one of them High. An argument broke out between the pair and quickly escalated into violence, with High punching the complainant to the floor before continuing the assault with repeated punches and kicks.
Discovered in the street
After the attack, the injured man walked back into Pembroke Dock town centre and placed a video call to a friend. Alarmed by what he saw, the friend immediately contacted police.
Officers later found the complainant “staggering around Pembroke Dock with blood on his face” and took him to hospital. Medical examinations revealed “significant bruising” to his face, additional bruising across his back, arms and legs, a suspected fracture to his upper jaw bone, and a fracture to a bone in his wrist.
Arrest and plea
High was tracked down and arrested a short time later. In interview he replied “no comment” to every question put to him.
He had originally been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, but the Crown accepted his guilty plea to the lesser offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The court also heard he was subject to a suspended sentence at the time of the offence.
Defence
Stuart John, representing High, rejected any suggestion his client had been involved in drug supply. He told the court that High’s relationship with the complainant’s ex-partner may have been at the heart of what unfolded inside the caravan.
Sentencing
Judge Geraint Walters described the attack as a “brutal” assault that had caused the victim significant injuries.
Alongside the 18-month prison term, High was also made subject to a five-year restraining order prohibiting any contact with the victim.
