Scaffolder jailed over unprovoked attack

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A scaffolder who kicked a man in the face, breaking his nose, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Louie Spencer set upon the victim in Yates bar, Belvoir Street, in the city centre.

Leicester Crown Court was told the 30-year-old victim was out celebrating a friend’s stag night when he was suddenly floored by two punches.

Spencer then kicked him in the face.

The injured man, who also suffered a black eye and three chipped teeth, underwent surgery on his fractured nose and was in hospital overnight.

Judge Simon Hammond banned Spencer, a scaffolder, from Yates bar for two years.

He said: “It was totally unprovoked. He might have bumped into the defendant in a crowded bar but that’s no justification.”

Spencer (27), of Mill Lane, Enderby, was found guilty by a jury of causing actual bodily harm on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

He denied the offence, claiming the victim banged into to him and head-butted him.

He denied kicking and said he threw two punches in self-defence.

Judge Hammond said: “His version was supported by his wife and a friend who gave evidence.

“However, CCTV footage of the incident clearly showed the victim had not head-butted him.

“It showed the defendant punching him and then punching him again from behind.

“It proved the defendant, his wife and friend told a pack of lies. The gravity of the offence was kicking him on the ground when he was defenceless.

“Booting someone in the face can cause serous injuries. It was unprovoked, gratuitous violence by a bully, which often makes cities and towns no-go areas.

“The next day the manager viewed the CCTV footage.

“He later saw the defendant in the bar boasting to friends about what he’d done.”

Esther Harrison, prosecuting, said Spencer had previous convictions for offences of violence.

James Bide-Thomas, mitigating, said Spencer was a hard-working family man with a young child.

He said the offence happened on the spur of the moment and was not premeditated.

He added there was a gap since his last offending and he had turned his life around for the better.

Mr Bide-Thomas said: “He knows his behaviour was totally unacceptable.

“He’s come to court expecting the worse.”

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