Pair avoid prison after street assault on man

Pair avoid prison after street assault on man

12 April 2017

TWO men involved in an assault which saw a man punched to the ground outside a bar have narrowly avoided jail.

Patrick Haughian (30), of Ballagh Road, Newcastle, and Clifford Parke (40), of Oldtown Lane, Annalong, received suspended sentences at Newtownards Crown Court on Friday.

They had both pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the man and a charge of assault against his partner. The defendants had earlier denied more serious charges of grievous bodily harm against the man but a trial due to get underway was halted when guilty pleas were entered to the lesser offences.

The court heard the pair met the victims for the first time on a night out in O’Hare’s bar in Newcastle on July 11, 2015.  Haughian invited the couple to a party afterwards in Parke’s house but became aggressive when they refused.

Judge Sandra Crawford said a witness reported seeing Haughian punch the man to the ground and “hitting him two or three times to the face”.

She said he also threw a bottle of wine, shards of which injured the woman’s legs.

She said Parke did not join in the attack but was charged with assault because he prevented the victim’s partner going to his aid.

“You took hold of her upper body,” she said. “By restraining her you assaulted her.”

The man, who suffered two fractures to the side of his jaw and eye socket, had to have a metal plate ed and had to undergo £900 of dental treatment. 

The court heard he was also subjected to a serious assault by an unconnected third party that evening.

Judge Crawford said his partner had suffered to a lesser degree but that it was nevertheless a “traumatic and distressing experience”.

“At the heart of this offence are two innocent victims who were subjected to an unprovoked and vicious assault,” she said. Sentencing Haughian, Judge Crawford said she took into account that the attack wasn’t premeditated and that he didn’t have a history of violence. 

She said she had received references referring to his charitable work and otherwise good character from employers and a ex-parish priest. She added that the “immeasurable shame” of this assault was something he would have to live with. 

An 18-month custodial sentence was suspended for three years and a £900 compensation order imposed.

Turning to Parke, the judge imposed a nine-month sentence suspended for three years. She said that he had a previous conviction for assault but noted this was over 15 years ago.

“You were not the primary aggressor,” said Judge Crawford. “It is clear you are remorseful and have shown considerable victim empathy.”

She noted that both defendants were assessed as being at a low likelihood of reoffending by the Probation Service but warned that any further violent offending would lead to immediate custody.