'Disgraceful' start to New Year ends in jail for drunk thug
A drunk who saw in the New Year with a ‘disgraceful’ burst of violence was starting an 18-month jail sentence today.
Kieran Perry hurled a glass across a bar into the face of an innocent man who he then started punching, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
The 25-year-old also deliberately knocked over a police officer in a bid to escape before being put in the back of a police vehicle, said Mr Simon Hanns, prosecuting.
Mr Mahmood Hamad was at The Pitch Sports Bar and Grill in Bridge Street, Walsall when trouble flared during the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Mr Hanns explained: “At around 2am he was standing with his head down looking at his mobile phone when he felt a sudden pain. He dropped the phone and, as he bent down to pick it up, the defendant punched him several times.
“The injured man slumped to his knees but got up, grabbed Perry by the arm and asked why he was behaving in that way but he let go when he realised he was bleeding.”
Mr Hamad suffered a gashed forehead, leaving him scarred for life and worried that would make people believe he was a troublemaker.
Mr Hanns stressed: “He did not provoke the attack in any shape or form.”
Police were called and Perry knocked over an officer trying to detain him, said the prosecutor who continued: "He was placed in the rear of a police vehicle which he started headbutting while frothing at the mouth and trying to attack other officers."
After the defendant had calmed down he admitted remembering little of what had happened, the court was told.
Mr Stephen Cadwaladr, defending, said: “His behaviour was wholly unacceptable. He was drunk and drink played an enormous part in his actions.
"He was drunk and drink played an enormous part in his actions. He had also taken drugs that night.”
Perry, of St Johns Road, Dudley, pleaded guilty to wounding, affray and assault and was sent to prison.
Judge Michael Challinor told him: "Mr Hamad was not drinking and was behaving himself when, without any provocation, you attacked him leaving him permanently scared. Now you must pay the price. You could have blinded him.
"What you did was disgraceful and wicked. Long after you have completed your sentence he will still have the scar and be worrying whether it makes him look like a troublemaker."
