A man charged with punching another man unconscious before breaking his ankle has been imprisoned for three years.
Ralph Richards, of Rhuddlan, was accused of intentionally targeting the victim, Anthony Webster, whom he attacked on the property of The New Inn, Rhuddlan. The Recorder, Duncan Bould, told Mold Crown Court how the intoxicated Mr Richards purposefully targeted the victim: “Mr Richards made a beeline for the victim…approaching him in such a way that he was unable to see you [Richards] coming”.
Mr Webster was knocked unconscious in the attack, but instead of ceasing in his actions Richards continued to beat the victim, stamping on his ankle using a shod foot and thereby breaking it.
Webster had previously experienced abuse as a result of a report he made to the police concerning stolen property of his, which had been found in the possession of a girlfriend of Richards’.
Richards denied a GBH charge and claimed that his actions had been in self-defence, but prosecutor John Wyn Williams accused him of deliberately causing “a defenceless man” serious injuries.
The judge described Richards as showing no remorse, telling him: “[Webster] was rendered unconscious by one blow, two teeth were loosened and while there on the ground you told him that he was not going to get up. You then deliberately stamped on his ankle, causing it to break.”
