Teen jailed for attack on man outside Milford Haven pub

A teenager who admitted he “couldn’t handle his drink” has been jailed for 18 months after launching a brutal attack on a 62-year-old man waiting for a lift outside a Milford Haven pub.

Benjamin Cullen, now 19, of Gordon Parry Road in Neyland, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm following the incident outside the Lord Kitchener pub on November 8.

Swansea Crown Court heard the victim had been watching rugby with friends before joining his son at the pub. After leaving, he called his partner for a lift and waited at the bus stop across the road.

Prosecutor Regan Walters told the court that Cullen joined the victim at the bus stop and was “talking loudly on his mobile phone”. He turned to the man and said: “What the f*** are you staring at?”

After repeating himself twice, the victim knocked the phone from Cullen’s hand. The 18-year-old then kicked the man to the stomach and dragged him to the floor in the road, punching him twice to the back of the head.

Onlookers rushed over and separated the pair, but instead of leaving, Cullen took off his jacket and hoodie, threw them to the ground, and launched a second attack with multiple punches and kicks.

The victim’s son arrived and intervened, taking Cullen to the ground, before the defendant freed himself and left the scene.

Paramedics found the victim in and out of consciousness. He was taken to hospital with cuts to the top and back of his head, as well as to his fingers and knees. “It could have been so much worse and that scares the life out of me,” he said.

Cullen was arrested at Nos Da bar at around 12.10am. As he was arrested, he told officers: “I haven’t done anything wrong.” In interview, he claimed he felt threatened and was acting in self-defence.

The court heard Cullen had 21 previous convictions for 44 offences, including battery, common assault and assaulting an emergency worker.

Dan Griffiths, in mitigation, said Cullen had drunk heavily that day “with the sole intention of getting drunk” following a family argument. “He was only 18 at the time of the incident. Immaturity factors in his offending. Thankfully [the injuries] were nothing more than superficial.”

Judge Huw Rees described the incident as “a violent torrent of blows and kicks” which came about because the defendant “can’t handle [his] drink.”

Cullen was sentenced to 18 months in a Young Offender Institution.