IN COURT: Two locked up for terrifying attack
A NEWMARKET man had a plastic bag held over his face while his attacker stood on his hands, a court has been told.
The terrifying incident which has left the victim suffering from flashbacks and a lack of cfidence only ended when a friend intervened to rip the bag off and then went to call for the police.
On Friday at Ipswich Crown Court the man who carried out the attack, which had also involved victim Rodney O'Brien being punched and kicked in the head, was jailed for two and a half years.
Ricky Green, 23, of Windsor Road, Newmarket, had pleaded guilty to an offence of unlawful wounding.
His co-defendant, 18-year-old Alana Yates of High Street, Newmarket, was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 18 months.
She had pleaded guilty to the same offence but the prosecution had accepted that she was not involved in using the plastic bag.
Yates, who the court heard had a string of previous convictions including for violence, also admitted common assault after spitting in the face a police officer after she had been arrested. Both Yates and Green had been drinking before the incident.
Patricia Doggett, prosecuting said that Mr O'Brien had been asleep on the floor of a room at Rockfield House, Newmarket when there had been a knock at the door at about 2am on the morning of September 24 last year.
The door had been opened by another occupant of the room Kevin Docherty, said Miss Doggett, which resulted in Green and Yates together with two other people walking in.
The two other people were not involved in the incident.
Miss Doggett said that Green had picked up a plastic bag and pulled it over Mr O'Brien's head while standing on his hands which had been behind him for support from his place on the floor. Green then repeatedly punched and kicked Mr O'Brien to the head and body before
Mr Docherty intervened.
It was while Mr Docherty left the room to call the police that the
attack resumed with Yates joining in, said Miss Doggett, also kicking him.
When Mr Docherty returned he found Mr O'Brien covered in blood and it was later discovered that he had suffered a 5cm long cut to his head which required five stitches and may have been caused by a large ring being worn by Green.
The attack had left Mr O'Brien suffering from sleeplessness, pain where from the scar caused by the wound, an eye that watered constantly and low self confidence, the court heard.
In a statement Mr O'Brien said: "I couldn't breath. I almost blacked out. I then felt a fist start to strike my head very hard."
In mitigation, Charles Judge said that Green, who had never been in prison before, had now spent more than five months on remand which had affected him.
He had lost his accommodation but had the prospect of employment when he was released from prison.
There had been no significant planning or premeditation involved in the attack and no weapon had been used, said Mr Judge.
Appearing for Yates, Joanne Eley said that after a difficult period in he early life she had turned to drink and drugs to help cope with everyday life.
Yates accepted that what she had done was wrong and that she needed to change her life.
Sentencing Green, Judge John Holt said the use of a plastic carrier bag placed over Mr O'Brien's face had been an aggravating feature of the case which had caused him to fear for his life.
Yates had a "shocking record for a young woman" said Judge Holt and despite her age only immediate custody was appropriate.
Judge Holt ruled that the 161 days served by Green on remand and the 115 days by Yates should be deducted from the time they will spend in custody.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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