Thug, 18, kicked stranger in the face making him fit after a friend's dare
A teenager carried out a sickening unprovoked attack on a stranger after a friend dared him to kick a random victim in the head outside a supermarket.
Carl Jones then fell back and hit his head on the floor, causing him to fit leaving a pal of the thug convinced he had killed him. Brannon Jones, then 18, wounded the man outside a Tesco Express in Cwmbran, Wales on May 27, 2021, causing fractures to his nose and eye sockets. He carried out the assault after being told by a friend "Kick him in the face, I dare you to kick him in the face".
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday heard Jones and a group of friends were hanging around outside Tesco store in Ty Gwyn Road when one of their number recognised Carl Jones as a former colleague. While speaking to Mr Jones, the others in the group including the defendant approached him, WalesOnline report.
Having been goaded by his friend to kick the victim in the head, Brannon Jones did kick Mr Jones to the side of the face. The victim fell backwards and hit the floor, as the defendant jumped around on the balls of his feet saying "I knocked him out, I knocked him out".
He attempted to leave the scene but was stopped as a group of bystanders crowded around Mr Jones and attempted to help him. The ambulance was called and CPR was carried out on the victim who had blood on his face and appeared to be choking on his own blood.
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
Mr Jones began to fit and became limp, with some at the scene believing he had died. Brannon Jones left the scene on his bike as the victim was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Upon regaining consciousness, he could recall nothing of the attack and was found to have sustained fractures to his nose and eye sockets.
Brannon Jones later called a friend who was present at the assault who told him he had kicked the victim in the face. In response, the defendant said "I forgot about that." He later called the friend back, to say his mother thought the victim was dead, but the friend explained Mr Jones was not dead and could hear the defendant arguing with his mother. The friend then ended the phone call and has not spoken to Jones since.
Police arrested the defendant, of Rhymney Court, Cwmbran, on May 28, 2021, but told officers in his interview he could not remember the assault having drunk 12 cans of Stella Artois and half a bottle of vodka. He claimed he would only have assaulted the victim if he had been "manipulated" by others.
Brannon Jones, now 21, later pleaded guilty to wounding and causing grievous bodily harm. The court heard he was of previous good character. The prosecution was unable to explain the delay in the case reaching court.
In mitigation, defence barrister Heath Edwards said his client regretted his behaviour on the night of the incident and was sorry for the harm he caused to Mr Jones. He noted that Mr Jones has appeared to make a complete recovery and there was no medical evidence to suggest otherwise. Mr Edwards said the defendant had been diagnosed with ADHD and autism with "heightened levels of impulsivity".
Sentencing, Recorder Benjamin Blakemore said: "This was an unprovoked and quite disgusting attack carried out for fun on a stranger to you.... Assaults like that do kill people and can kill people... This was nothing but an unprovoked attack of thuggery on your part." Brannon Jones was sentenced to six months detention in a young offenders' institute. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
