A 30-year-old man has been jailed for 27 months for his part in an attack on a motorist who was pulled from his car and beaten in Cwmbran.
Robbie Williams, of Forgeside, Cwmbran, was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Thursday, having admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The attack
Mark Cook was in his car, with his partner as a passenger, when he was targeted on April 29 this year.
An acquaintance first distracted him, and then three men moved in. His partner began screaming as liquid was thrown at Mr Cook and he was pulled out of the vehicle.
Once he was out, the group punched and kicked him. At one point he was struck on the head with an object that he said felt like a brick.
Injuries
Mr Cook found he was missing a tooth the day after the attack. He later described blood pouring down his face during the assault, and said it had caused him psychological harm.
Caught on CCTV
Prosecutor Pamela Kaiga said Williams was identified afterwards from CCTV footage. The other two men involved could not be identified.
Previous convictions
The court heard Williams has 33 previous convictions, including offences of:
- battery
- assault occasioning actual bodily harm
- robbery
- affray
- assaulting emergency workers
He was on licence when Mr Cook was attacked, and he is also in breach of a suspended prison sentence.
Sentencing
When he passed sentence, Recorder Dyfed Thomas said: “This was a cowardly assault by a group of you on a man driving in his car with his partner. You should be ashamed. You were intoxicated at the time. You clearly knew each other but the root cause of all this may never be known. It’s clear this was planned.”
Along with the prison term, Williams was given a restraining order lasting seven years.
