Pair who beat man 'for fun' spared jail so they can earn £4,000 compensation
TWO city men who beat up a carpenter in a drunken, unprovoked attack have been spared jail so that they can compensate their victim.
A judge at Plymouth Crown Court branded Michael Eveleigh, 28, and 26-year-old Daniel Pomfret cowards and ordered each to pay £2,000 to the man they punched and kicked in an alleyway.
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Both men admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm in connection with an incident in the Morshead Road area of Crownhill, and Pomfret also pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.
Paul Bitmead, prosecuting, said that at about 9.20pm on March 13 last year, Pomfret assaulted a 15-year-old boy by punching him twice to the head.
He said: "Moments later, Pomfret and Eveleigh attacked another man in an alleyway. He was knocked to the ground and punched and kicked repeatedly."
The court was told the man, a self-employed carpenter, suffered injuries including a broken finger and bleeding from an ear, and was unable to work for eight weeks, losing about £3,600 in earnings as a result.
Judge Francis Gilbert QC said Pomfret punched the 15-year-old "for fun, and no other reason". He said Pomfret then attacked the other man as he was walking to his car, and Eveleigh joined in. The judge told the pair: "It was a vicious attack by two people who were in drink. There was no provocation whatsoever and you were cowards to attack him together."
The judge gave both men eight-month sentences suspended for two years. He said he was suspending their prison sentences only because that way, they could compensate the victim, as they were both in work.
Pomfret, of Fountains Crescent, and Eveleigh, of Shakespeare Road, were each ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community, and to pay their victim £2,000 each at a rate of £200 a month.
Pomfret was given another suspended sentence for the assault on the boy.
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by Darren, PL6
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 12:17PM
“Mike and Steph FACTS, dont make me laugh.....i have had little scrotes of 14-15 mouth off to me, doesnt mean im going to go and punch them twice in the head does it, there is NO excuse what so ever for that COWARD.
two sides of a story eh....so it took TWO of you to attack one man ....again dont make me laugh....two on one is another no go.......
what i would like to see is if either of you would have the minerals to do something like that to me a 41 yr old father to a 15 year old lad, get my drift laddy kiddy boys
again should have gone down for a year
regards.”
by babs, st judes
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 8:59AM
“well i feel sorry for the victim all the money he lost and all he will get is a measly £400.00 wot a waste of time judge gilbert dont you think u should stand down now you are giving the thugs what they want a life of crime and dont go to prison wot a bloody joke man get a grip”
by C, Plymouth
Monday, September 06 2010, 10:49PM
“Oh, come on Judge Gilbert! you can't be that nieve, do you really think these two scumbags are going to pay compensation to this lad at 200 pounds a month! Did you give the order to take it out of their pay?”
by Ahem, PL4
Monday, September 06 2010, 9:24PM
“Mike, I've read your side, a drunken mistake eh?. No excuse. People have stopped going out and having a nice night out because of thugs like you, always having to watch their backs etc. Almost 2 years on bail?, let's not exaggerate, it was less than 18 months so if we are to exaggerate it was a year on bail. I just hope your next drunken mistake is with the wrong person/people. Stay lucky!”
by mike, plymouth
Monday, September 06 2010, 8:42PM
“fred and mafia when u have something useful to say don't bother, know one wants to read your dull one sided opinions.”
by graham, stoke
Monday, September 06 2010, 7:58PM
“GILBERT IS A BENT QC”
by PL7 Mafia, P-Town
Monday, September 06 2010, 4:27PM
“Glad Mike came on here to express his opinion that his actions should be acceptable and put down to a drunken mistake.
You, Mike, are not a man. You and your mate are scumbags who attacked a man two-up without provocation. You can't use the excuse that it was a drunken mistake.
I often go out and get minging, but I don't go smashing people up.
Toerags like you should be tied up and let the victim give you a kicking”
by Fred, Plymouth
Monday, September 06 2010, 3:57PM
“steph and mike................who carfes what YOU think, the fact is regardless of who started the fight or not it was YOU who were arrested and charged and YOU who were the ADULTS hitting and kicking a young lad. Sorry NO EXCUSE DRUNK OR OTHERWISE you still should have gone down
I certainly wouldn't be coming on here whinging or trying to justify your actions you were found GUILTY. If it were me I'd be keeping my head low now and getting on with paying back the money”
by steph jarvis, plymouth
Monday, September 06 2010, 1:41PM
“i know these 2 ppl, there r very gd friends of ours. they were on bail for 2 yrs and were prepared to go to jail and serve there time, but the judge thought different and hit them were it hurts, in there pockets. if he hadn't the compensation would of come out the tax payers pockets. so if i were u lot i'd get the facts rite first before u judge ppl, as there is always 2 sides to every story.”
by mike, plymouth
Monday, September 06 2010, 1:21PM
“if u were there then u may comment otherwise keep your trap shut. we spent almost 2 years on bail expecting to go to jailed for what we did, if u think it's easy u try it!. u all only know what u've read which isn't both sides of the story so before u juge think how u would feel if it was your kids looking at jail for a silly drunken mistake, u would back them to the hilt so get of your ghigh horses from behind a computer and get in the real world! And for the record the 15 year old started the fight!”