Pub ban for town head lad
A Crown Court judge has banned a Newmarket racing worker from every licensed premises in England and Wales for a year, after he admitted a violent attack in a town pub.
Andrew O’Connor, known within the racing industry as ‘Irish Andy’, had drunk 12 pints of cider when he broke his victim’s nose during the attack on August 8 last year.
On Tuesday, Ipswich Crown Court heard how, with a single blow, O’Connor had knocked Nasrullah Khan to the ground and then stamped on him. His victim had also suffered facial bruising during the attack, which took place inside the Waggon and Horses pub, in Newmarket High Street, just before 10pm.
Thirty-seven-year-old O’Connor, of Nimbus Way, Newmarket, who has worked in racing for 14 years and is now a head lad, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.
In addition to the licensed premises ban, which includes pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants, he was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months and was ordered to pay Mr Khan £600 compensation and £1,000 towards the costs of the prosecution.
The court heard how O’Connor had drunk 12 pints of cider on the night of the incident and had little recollection of what took place, but CCTV images from inside the pub showed the attack taking place.
Mitigating, Declan Gallagher said O’Connor, had expressed genuine remorse and the attack had not been premeditated. He had no previous convictions for violence and he said the incident had been “out of character”.
Mr Gallager suggested there may have been a degree of provocation involving Mr Khan who, he said, a short while earlier had gone “face to face” with O’Connor.
Judge Rupert Overbury told him: “This can be viewed, in my judgment, as an isolated incident.”
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Weather for Newmarket
Tuesday 21 May 2013
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