Jordan Coles (Image: Gwent Police)
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A man who launched a “frenzied” attack on a fellow pub customer – leaving him with a bleed on the brain – has been jailed for more than three years.
The assault
Jordan Coles, 29, had been drinking in the Great Western in Abergavenny on an evening last May alongside stroke victim William Murphy and Mr Murphy’s partner, who acted as his carer.
The two men did not know each other but recognised one another from frequenting the pub. Mr Murphy had left the venue before his partner to walk his dog, and Coles later escorted Mr Murphy’s “heavily intoxicated” girlfriend back to the victim’s home.
After being asked to leave the address, Coles turned violent – repeatedly punching and kicking Mr Murphy in the head.
CCTV footage played at Newport Crown Court captured the attack at the victim’s flat, showing Coles continuing to strike the complainant even as he lay helpless on the floor and appeared to lose consciousness.
The aftermath
Prosecutor Abigail Jackson told the court that after the assault, Coles – who had consumed 10 pints of beer and snorted cocaine – returned to the pub.
“He told a member of staff that he thought he had killed the victim,” she said.
“As he was making this disclosure, the defendant was covered in blood.”
When police arrived at Mr Murphy’s address, they found him also covered in blood with a bruised and swollen face. He was taken by ambulance to the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran to be treated for his injuries, which included a “massive black eye” and a bleed on the brain.
Victim’s words
In a victim impact statement, Mr Murphy – who had suffered a stroke around two years before the attack – revealed the lasting toll of the assault.
“I continue to have terrible headaches and have been prescribed painkillers four times a day,” he said.
“I’ve been told that another blow to my head could be fatal.”
He added: “I cry or break down in tears quite a lot.”
Sentencing
Coles, of St Michael’s Road, Abergavenny, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He had no previous convictions.
His barrister Alice Sykes said her client had “turned his life around” since the incident, having been sober for eight months after tackling his drug and alcohol addictions. She told the court there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” for the unemployed father-of-two.
Judge Celia Hughes told Coles: “You acted in a frenzy, fuelled by a large amount of alcohol and cocaine.”
He was jailed for 39 months and made the subject of a 10-year restraining order not to contact Mr Murphy.
