(click on image to enlarge)Norwich Crown Court heard the gang of seven attacked Tadeusz Broniak and Marcin Rapacz after finding them sitting outside the Hog's Head pub in King's Lynn high street. The brutal attack was caught on security cameras and played before the judge who described it as a “ferocious and unprovoked attack on two vulnerable men”.
The victims were repeatedly punched, kicked and spat on and were fortunate to suffer nothing more than cuts and bruises. The footage showed the offenders walking away from the scene, leaving the victims lying on the floor covered in blood.
Speaking after the case, King's Lynn section inspector Colin Williamson said: “This sickening assault took place against a backdrop of drunken aggression. The CCTV footage is shocking.”
Jody Tooke, 25, of Saddlebow Road, King's Lynn; Ben Watson, 20, of Chadwick Square, Lynn; Ben Winchester, 21, of Wisbech Road, Lynn; John Plummley, 22, of Burnham Avenue, King's Lynn; Jack Nesbitt, 20, of Hinchingbrooke Close, South Wootton; Christopher Tibbs, 22, of Saddlebow Road, Lynn all pleaded guilty to violent disorder on November 4 last year.
Liam Wintin, 19, of St Edmundsbury Road, Lynn, was convicted of violent disorder following a trial. Alfie Tooke, 21, of Ouse Avenue, Lynn, who had denied inciting others to use or threaten violence, was cleared by a jury following a trial earlier this month.
The court heard the gang went to the Hog's Head after hearing that the two Polish men had been making it difficult for bar staff and refusing to leave. They were also said to have threatened Alfie Tooke so the gang went to the Hog's Head “to sort out the two Polish men”.
Mr Justice Cooke imposed a year's jail sentence on all the men suspended for two years and ordered them to do a total of 1,280 hours of unpaid work. He said they were all in employment and felt they were all capable of making their way in life as civilised members of society.
But he warned: “Your actions on that night stem from the amount of drink you consumed.”
He said they had acted as “unthinking teenagers” and said: “Stay off drink and think about what you drink.”
The men's counsel said they had all been disgusted by their behaviour. Some members of the gang had written letters of apology to the victims. Benedict Peers, for Tibbs, said: “When he first viewed that recording, he himself was shocked.”
Outside court Insp Williamson pledged that officers would do all they could to stamp out alcohol-fuelled violence. The men's names have been forwarded to the local Pubwatch group to be considered for a town-wide pub ban.
Insp Williamson said: “Alcohol-fuelled violence is not acceptable in this town or any other and a lot of work is being carried out by the police and partner agencies to weed out individuals like this whose lawless behaviour ruins everyone else's night out.”
A new Nightsafe scheme - based on successful operations in Norwich and Yarmouth - has since been launched.
[Watch the video by clicking on the link]
EDP24
