A doorman violently pushed a customer to the ground causing him to fracture his elbow.
Shaun Storey was working as a security supervisor at The Yard bar in Newcastle city centre when a man left the premises with a glass. Newcastle Crown Court heard how the 51-year-old pushed him violently and threw him to the floor.
Graham O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told the court that the next thing the male customer remembered was being in the bar next door covered in blood.
He said Storey was then approached by the victim’s friend and told him that he deserved what had happened.
The prosecutor said: “I’ll not explain what was said but essentially it was along the lines of words that can’t be used – and the defendant suggests that he deserved it.”
The court heard how the victim woke up the next morning in pain, mainly in the area of his right elbow. He went to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle and an x-ray revealed that he had fractured it.
Mr O’Sullivan said that the incident took place when the victim visited the bar on Scotswood Road on August 29, 2021. He said: “He had already been drinking, he was already tipsy.
“When he arrived at the bar he saw the defendant, the door supervisor, who he had some previous dealing with, having been removed from the same bar in July. That put him on edge.”
Mr O’Sullivan said the man went with his friend and their partner to various bars and returned to The Yard bar at around 1.45am. He said that his next memory was being in the bar next door covered in blood.
He said: “As he left the bar, the defendant took issue with the fact he was leaving the bar and had taken a hold of him – and caused him to fall to the ground.”
In a victim impact statement, read to the court, the man said he had been put off going to Yard Bard, which is recognised as a gay bar. He said: “I previously felt safe that. It makes me feel this bar is not safe anymore”.
He said he was left unable to do things he ordinarily did such as open a paper, brush his teeth or comb his hair due to the pain in his elbow.
Storey, Thirston Drive, Cramlington, Northumberland, was convicted by a jury of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial.
Nick Cartmell, defending, told the court that the incident occurred when the victim left the club with a glass and did not return it. He said it was something Storey did in a “moment of madness”.
He said: “He deeply apologises, he’s deeply remorseful for any injury. To bring an end to his career as a doorman in this way has brought him great shame. He’s lost that employment, which is lucrative employment. He’s moved on to a more peaceful occupation now.”
Mr Cartmell said Storey’s life has been dedicated to protecting people and safeguarding them on the streets of Newcastle. He said that when he was unable to do that, during the coronavirus pandemic, he worked as a hospital porter at the intensive care unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.
Judge Penny Moreland said: “You were at work in August of 2021, working as a door supervisor at The Yard bar on Scotswood Road. (The victim) was a customer at the bar. He, like everybody else in the bar, had been drinking.
“You took exception to his walk out of the bar with a glass. Your response was to push him violently and throw him to the floor, causing a fracture to his elbow and a cut to his right eyebrow.”
The judge told Storey that the was responsible for the safety of customers at the bar but had instead caused injury to the victim. She sentenced him to nine months in prison suspended for 18 months.
Judge Moreland also ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 towards court costs.
Source – Chronicle Live