Jake Flicker (Image: Gwent Police)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
A 26-year-old man has been jailed for 28 weeks after he left a mixed martial arts practitioner with a broken jaw and fractured eye socket during a violent confrontation at his mother’s home in the Bedwas area of Caerphilly.
Jake Flicker, of Nelson Terrace, Brithdir, Caerphilly, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Gethin Edwards at Cardiff Crown Court. Having already spent the equivalent of three and a half months on remand in custody, he is expected to be released from prison immediately.
The confrontation
The court heard that at around 1pm on Monday, April 8, 2024, Mr Edwards arrived at the front door of Flicker’s mother’s home and challenged him to “come outside and fight like a man”. He then broke his way into the property.
Flicker’s basis of plea included his concern that Mr Edwards practiced a mixed martial art from Thailand called Krav Maga. However, his response went far beyond what was necessary – he punched Mr Edwards on the floor at least five times.
The aftermath
When police arrived following a 999 call, prosecutor David Pinnell told the court, they found Mr Edwards lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road. Despite the severity of his injuries, Mr Edwards never made a complaint against Flicker, telling officers he had simply fallen over. The prosecution case was built entirely on statements from neighbours who had witnessed the violence.
Sentencing
Flicker had five previous convictions for eight offences, though none involved violence.
His representative, Jeffrey Jones, urged the court to show leniency: “There was significant provocation towards the defendant and he was protecting his mother’s home and his mother from harm. I would ask the court to have some sympathy with him.”
Recorder Greg Bull KC acknowledged that Mr Edwards had been the aggressor, telling Flicker: “The victim was aggressive when he came to your mother’s home and he was seemingly looking for trouble.”
Flicker was also ordered to pay a statutory victim surcharge.
