Clubber punched kebab shop man

A DRUNKEN clubber punched another man in the face in a vicious assault after a night out.

Benjamin Hailwood, of Church Drive, Quedgeley, attacked another man outside a kebab shop in Stroud at 3am.

The victim was barged into, said “excuse me”, but was then assaulted.

Hailwood, 20, appeared before Gloucester magistrates to plead guilty to the attack, which occurred on May 15.

Prosecuting solicitor Louise Pinder said: “It was 3am in the morning and the defendant barged passed a man outside a kebab shop.

“When the man said ‘excuse me’ the defendant replied ‘don’t have a go at me’ but then punched the man once to the face. The victim fell to the floor and suffered a cut lip.

“When the defendant was arrested he told police he was drunk at the time.

“He has previous convictions.”

The victim went to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for treatment and was later released.

Mood

The court heard how Hailwood claimed that he was attacked by another man first, which blackened his mood just before the incident.

Defending solicitor Paul Griffin said: “My client was out in town night-clubbing with a group of friends.

“Another member of the public punched my client, who is not normally a violent person.”

District Judge Martin Brown said: “Being drunk is no excuse.

“It is in fact an aggravating feature.

“There was a relatively minor incident but you just lashed out.

“There are too many incidents of young people out late making life unbearable for others.

“This is all too common these days.”

Telling Hailwood the offence was going to cost him “a lot of money,” the judge fined him £300, ordered him to pay his victim £200 compensation and £85 prosecution costs.