A man has been jailed after he knocked his friend unconscious outside a Barry pub, carried on punching him as he lay motionless and then walked off, leaving him in the road.
Liam Chichester, 30, was found to be a dangerous offender at Newport Crown Court on Thursday. He was sentenced to 64 months in prison, with an extended licence period of three years.
His victim, Dean Thomas, ended up on a ventilator in critical care and has no memory of what happened that night.
Asked to leave
Chichester had been drinking at the Master Mariner in Barry on 17 July but was told to leave because of his aggressive behaviour.
According to the pub owner, Chichester was a “bigger and stronger” man than Mr Thomas. Mr Thomas said he would go after Chichester because he was his “mate”.
Caught on CCTV
CCTV of what happened next outside the pub was played in court. It showed Chichester going after Mr Thomas.
Mr Thomas was knocked down, got back up and was chased again. The second time Chichester put him on the ground, he was knocked unconscious.
The footage then showed Chichester landing three or four more punches to the head of Mr Thomas as he lay out cold.
Chichester made a rough attempt to pull him out of the road, but left him lying in the road near the kerb and walked away.
The injuries
When police arrived, Mr Thomas was unconscious in the road and his breathing was laboured. He was given CPR and taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
There, doctors found:
- a 3cm wound to his chin
- three skull fractures
- bleeding on the right side of his brain
- air on the right side of his skull
- fluid in his ear cavity
- blood between his ear and scalp
- a displaced fracture to his right cheek
- a broken nose
- a displaced jaw fracture
- a bruised lung, with blood in his lung and chest cavity
- several broken ribs
- air in the soft tissue between his chest and armpit
- a displaced fracture to his vertebrae
Prosecutor James Evans said Mr Thomas was placed on a ventilator in critical care and was in hospital for 10 days before being discharged.
A friendship of a decade
Mr Thomas described Chichester as someone he had been friends with for 10 years. He said he had no recollection of that evening and no memory of seeing Chichester at all.
Arrest and record
Chichester, of Gateholm Close, Barry, was arrested and gave a “no comment” interview. He later pleaded guilty to wounding and inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The court heard he has 24 previous convictions, 11 of them for assault.
Mitigation
Adam Sharp, mitigating, said Chichester was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of six. The barrister accepted that his client’s actions amounted to a “vicious display of violence”.
Sentencing
Judge David Wynn Morgan told Chichester:
“This was an appalling attack. It may not have lasted particularly long but you’re a much bigger man than your victim and it wouldn’t have taken long for you to inflict those injuries upon him. You left him in a carriageway.”
The judge found him to be a dangerous offender and sentenced him to 64 months in prison, with an extended licence period of three years.
