Drunk left his victim paralysed
MATTHEW Edmonds has been left paralysed from the neck down and facing life in a wheelchair after he was punched in the street by a drunken yob.
The 33-year-old was left a tetraplegic with limited movement in his arms after the single punch assault.
His attacker, Samuel Evans, 21, was already subject to a suspended jail term for a previous assault when he lashed out at Matthew.
He fell and hit his head on a concrete floor, with "devastating" consequences for the aerospace testing engineer, Gloucester Crown Court was told.
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Matthew was helped into court in his wheelchair so he could see Evans, of no fixed address, sentenced to a total of 34 months in jail.
But it is likely he could serve just half that before being eligible for parole.
Judge William Hart told Evans the public might view his sentence as "pathetic". He jailed him for 28 months for the assault, and implemented the six month suspended term for the previous attack.
Judge Hart said sentencing guidelines did not allow him to pass a longer term. In addition, Evans, formerly of Devereux Crescent, Stroud, had admitted the charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm on March 26 and was eligible for a reduction to the maximum sentence.
Evans wrote a letter to the court that said: "I have wrecked Mr Edmonds' life and I hate myself for it."
But the judge, who heard Evans had previous convictions including assault and battery, told him: "On this dreadful night you were drunk and looking for trouble, as appears to have become your habit.
"You struck a forceful blow to Mr Edmonds. The consequences for him have been as dramatic as they could be, short of death. It was catastrophic."
After the hearing Matthew, who had been brought to court from the spinal injuries unit at Salisbury Hospital, said he had been hoping Evans would get a longer sentence.
He said: "I came to court because I just wanted to draw a line under it all. It was quite hard.. but it was something I felt I had to do.
"I won't be able to go back to my work and I shall have to re-evaluate what I am to do."
Comments
by Pifaw
Saturday, October 20 2012, 8:52AM
“Sorry for the bad spelling in my previous comment; its a bit early for me.”
by Pifaw
Saturday, October 20 2012, 8:50AM
“The sentancing guidlines are at fault here; this crime deserves at least 10 years as the assault will cause a lifetime of grief for the victim. Criminals serving only 50% of their sentance is also wrong; they should serve the whole sentance with time of only if they behave in prison.”
by FreeRadical1
Friday, October 19 2012, 4:44PM
“Altheia, this was the maximum sentence for the crime of assault. You may question, however, why the CPS chose not to charge the scumbag with GBH.
EllJay1, I think that softtabor was criticising the previous judge, who failed to imprison Evans for assault, so that he was free to carry out a second, more devastating assault.”
by EllJay1
Friday, October 19 2012, 3:57PM
“-"by softtabor - The Judge who allowed him on the streets is as responsible for his crimes as he is"
No softabor, you are totally wrong, because Judge Hart had to abide by the sentencing rules. If he had given a longer term it would have been appealed, ended up probably even less than 34 months and cost the public a lot more.”
by softtabor
Friday, October 19 2012, 11:46AM
“Yet another crime committed by an offender who should have been in prison at the time.
The Judge who allowed him on the streets is as responsible for his crimes as he is”
by Matt1006
Wednesday, October 17 2012, 6:24PM
“Why the fresh article on this, TiG? We know this drunken moron has left his innocent victim in a wheelchair, and ruined his life.
In the meantime, the apparently homeless ("of no fixed address") thug is now being put up for perhaps 18 months in one of HM's hotels, at our (the tax payer's) cost.
Judge Hart isn't (for once) to blame here, as his hands were tied in terms of the sentence he could hand down to the moron - what would be nice to read is that Judge Hart is one of many calling on the Government to review sentencing guidelines for such offences, so that the victims - especially those who's life has been permanently ruined - can see some REAL justice handed down to their attackers.
Evans will be out of prison by mid 2014, and will be free to ruin more lives - seems he has a problem with drink (and a history of violence), which given he'll be on an enforced wagon whilst inside (I assume...), the potential consequences of his 1st trip to a pub upon his release are not nice to consider.”
by Aletheia
Wednesday, October 17 2012, 5:56PM
“What a shame that the government has chosen to have a Police and Crime Commissioner to give local people some power over policies yet what really counts is that the courts reflects the wishes of the area it serves.
When offences can be committed in an infinite amount of ways how is it sensible to have a tariff system that dictates sentencing? The sentence should reflect both the actions of the offender AND THE EFFECT UPON THE VICTIM.
Perhaps it is time we had elected judges who would serve the area and prisons in that area for those convicted. The prisons could be financed locally as well. In doing that the people could decide how tough their courts were and it would be very interesting to see what would happen. Would criminals move to softer areas or would all sentencing toughen up considerably to prevent this?”