A WEST Berkshire pub doorman punched a man so hard a tooth had to be surgically removed from his knuckle.
The violent 33-year-old was also caught with an “armoury” of offensive weapons at home, including a ‘Rambo’ knife, six knuckle dusters and a baton.
Luke Watts attacked his victim in The Falcon in Theale High Street, where he was living as a guest of his stepmother, the landlady, Reading Crown Court heard on Friday, January 17.
Kate Hare, prosecuting, said Daniel French had been in The Falcon when he noticed Watts glaring at him.
Mr French next remembered waking up in a pool of blood and broken teeth, with one tooth shard protruding through his lip.
He is now permanently disfigured, the court heard.
Body builder Watts, meanwhile, was found next day to have one of his victim’s teeth embedded so deep in his knuckle it had to be surgically removed in hospital.
He was convicted of committing assault causing actual bodily harm at the pub on September 6 last year.
To make matters worse, the court heard, he was awaiting sentence for an affray outside a nightclub and also for a racist attack in another pub at the time.
Last July the Newbury Weekly News reported how Watts broke Vijay Sukamaran’s eye socket, nose and both sides of his jawbone with a single, unprovoked ‘sucker punch.’
He then punched another Asian man standing nearby, after racially abusing them both by calling them “P*** c****.”
Mr Sukaraman sustained a broken nose, jawbone and eye socket.
Watts was convicted of causing racially aggravated grievous bodily harm and assault by beating.
He has previous convictions for drug possession and affray, a reprimand for causing actual bodily harm, a caution for battery and a caution for theft.
Giving evidence at trial, Watts had tried to deny the attack was racially motivated, although he was subsequently convicted.
He told jurors he had drunk two bottles of whisky during an alcohol binge preceding the incident and blamed the mothers of his children.
Watts added: “I’ve moved on but they obviously still have feelings for me.”
At Friday’s sentencing hearing Kirsty Day, defending, said the father of three had expressed remorse and knew an immediate prison sentence was “inevitable.”
She said the former soldier had “got in with a bad crowd” after leaving school.
Ms Day conceded her client had “issues with drink, drugs and gambling” but had found work as a pub doorman.
She said all three women who were mothers to his children had all been causing trouble for him, resulting in his “mental health issues and self destructive behaviour.”
The judge, Recorder Jeremy Benson, remarked: “He had an armoury at home – that’s worrying, given his mental state.”
He also pointed out that some of the offending had been committed while on bail for other violent crime.
Watts was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment.
He will serve around half that behind bars and the remainder on licence in the community.
In addition he was ordered to pay a statutory victim services surcharge of £228.
Finally, the judge imposed a 10-year restraining order preventing Watts from contacting Mr Sukamaran in any way.
Source – Newbury Today
