A man repeatedly punched a fellow pub customer in the face leaving him with fractured facial bones, a court has heard. Timothy Phillips claimed he had no memory of even being in the pub where he launched the unprovoked assault and only realised he had gone there when he saw his bank card had been used at the bar.
A judge told the 50-year-old that when he punched his victim in the face he could have caused brain injuries or even killed the man. In a statement read to the court the victim said it was “deeply unsettling” to realise that you could be the victim of random violence.
Alycia Carpanini, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on September 16 last year the complainant in the case went out with friends in Haverfordwest to watch the rugby and visited a number of pubs in the town before ending up in the Castle Hotel. She said while the man was dancing in the Castle that evening the defendant put his arm around him and spoke to him briefly before delivering “six or seven upper-cut punches” to the victim’s face in quick succession which floored the complainant.
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The victim was subsequently taken to Withybush Hospital where medics found a deep laceration to his lip and fractures to two facial bones. In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecutor the victim said he had been “enjoying what should have been a fun evening” when he was attacked for no reason. He said it was “deeply unsettling” to realise that you could be the victim of random violence and that it was a reminder of how unpredictable life could be. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Phillips was arrested and questioned about the incident and claimed he had been acting in self-defence, saying he felt threatened by the other man and acted to protect himself. Timothy Phillips, of Lampeter Velfrey, Pembrokeshire, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding when he appeared in the dock. He has one previous conviction from 1999 for a dishonesty matter. Dyfed Thomas, for Phillips, said it was accepted the offending crossed the custody threshold but he invited the court not to impose a sentence of immediate custody on the smallholder.
Judge Huw Rees told Phillips that when he hit his victim in the head he could have caused a brain injury or even killed him. He said it was clear from everything he had had read about the defendant that his actions on the day in question had been out of character but he said it had not escaped his attention that in the probation report Phillips said he could not remember being in the Castle and only realised he had spent time there when he saw his bank card had been used three times at the premises.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea, Phillips was sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for 12 months and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay his victim £1,500 in criminal compensation.
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