A 6ft 8ins security guard who weighs 18-stone attacked two men who were leaving a Stockton casino accompanied by women they had been talking to.
Joseph Fletcher, 24, alongside his colleague Calvin Eastwood, 27, told the men: “You can’t do that” as one of the men was carrying a beer bottle as he walked towards the door. Fletcher began punching and kicking the man before he threw a glass bottle at him, on the night of August 18, 2021.
Teesside Crown Court has heard that Fletcher put one of the men in a “reverse choke hold position” and took his bottle of beer off him. Eastwood punched the man before Fletcher joined in.
Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, told the court that when one of the men, who was on the floor, tried to sit up, Fletcher kicked him twice to his head. Eastwood then punched him and Fletcher kicked him in the back.
The man fell back down to the floor. The attack was caught on the casino’s CCTV and Fletcher handed himself into police the next day. He told officers that he was working that night in the casino, and that he acted when he thought his life was in danger.
The court heard that the two men had been on a night out in Middlesbrough before arriving at the casino. They had asked the women “if they wanted to chat further outside” before getting up and heading for the casino doors. One of the victims was left with a swollen head; the other with neck pain.
Fletcher, of Claremont Court in Thornaby, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Eastwood, also of Claremont Court in Thornaby was handed a suspended sentence for his part in the attack, at an earlier hearing.
The court heard that Eastwood lost his licence to work in security and has since retrained as a heavy goods driver. He admitted that he “lost control” of himself and said he’s “very ashamed” of what he did.
Judge Paul Watson told Fletcher: “You were working as a door supervisor at the casino when this incident occurred. That night you thought that these two men had been harassing some women.
“Miraculously, though both men were taken to hospital, neither suffered substantial injury. It is remarkable given the level of violence.
“It was truly disgraceful. But it can genuinely be said that you’ve turned your life around. You now deliver goods within the construction business. It would be quite wrong to send you immediately to prison.”
Fletcher was handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for 18-months. He was ordered to attend 10-rehabilitation days with the probation service; and carry out 180-hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £350 in compensation to the man he kicked and threw a bottle, at a rate of £20 a week. He will pay £650 towards the prosecution’s costs, at a rate of £20 a week, once he has paid the compensation.
Source – Teeside Live
