TikTok prankster jailed for biting victim in shop attack

A TikTok prankster launched an unprovoked and ferocious attack on a man in a shop after he began smashing up the store and shouting: “I wanted to go back to prison”. He punched and bit his victim after becoming intoxicated following his release from prison and engagement earlier that day.

Gavin Davies, 38, frequently posts videos on TikTok under the name of Ruthless Roofers. A number of his posts showed him pretending to collapse in restaurants, diving in canals, and playing pool with a crutch. He has amassed more than 31,000 followers.

On August 14 he ran into a corner shop in Merthyr Tydfil with no top on and began pulling down boxes and goods.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard the victim had attended the same shop with his stepdaughter when the defendant barged in “in a rage”.

Davies shouted: “I want to go back to prison” and grabbed items in the store, throwing them to the floor. The defendant attempted to take a swing at the shopkeeper and the victim approached him to tell him to leave the store.

Davies charged towards the victim and punched him several times to the face and head and bit him on the nose. They both ended up on the floor and the defendant continued to punch and bite the victim. Further items fell onto the floor and were damaged in the melee before Davies got up and left the shop.

The victim suffered a number of injuries and has ongoing pain in his wrist and thumb. In a victim personal statement the man said his “world has turned upside-down” and will never forget his stepdaughter’s face during the assault upon him. He described the defendant as a “monster” and said he was “fighting for his life” during the incident. The victim added: “I thought this was the end for me.”

Davies, of Aberfan, Merthyr Tydfil, later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, affray, and criminal damage.

In mitigation Jeffrey Jones said his client had been drinking, having been released from prison earlier that day, and had got engaged to his partner. He said the defendant had been assaulted by another person before entering the shop and was “in a bad mood”. After leaving the shop he became involved in another altercation and “came off worse”.

Mr Jones said his client has a “good work ethic” and has donated money to charity as well as taking part in a charity football match.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Hobson said: “This was utterly disgraceful behaviour… First you go in that shop and start to deliberately trash it. When verbally challenged you launched a ferocious attack on him, punched him, and bit him as the shopkeeper tried to persuade you to stop… This was you behaving like a wild animal.”

Davies was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and was made subject to a restraining order for five years.