A bully who assaulted two youths in unprovoked attacks on the same night has been jailed.
Buzz Smith was high on drugs when he targeted a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old in the area of a Metro station in South Tyneside. Both boys were left injured and traumatised by the attacks, a court heard.
The 17-year-old victim was on a cycle path near Brockley Whins station in April 2021 when he was targeted. Smith aggressively asked for a cigarette and when told he didn't have one he punched the teenager in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Read more: Tyneside graffiti gang including three railway cleaners caused £46,000 of damage to trains
He then demanded his iphone, which the lad handed over in fear, before Smith ran off. The victim went back to the Metro station and pressed a help button to report the assault but when told it could be a while before police arrived, he went home.
Newcastle Crown Court heard one of his front teeth was knocked out and another one was loose and he needed extensive dental treatment. In a victim impact statement, he said: "Immediately afterwards I was really scared and frightened and worried the male would come back.
"I felt reassured at hospital but the following day my confidence was really low. I felt anxious and didn't want to leave the house. I've had counselling which I found really helpful and supportive."
Smith went on to assault a 14-year-old, demanding he hand over cannabis, which the boy didn't have. His glasses were knocked off and he suffered bruising.
He said in a victim impact statement: "For the first few days afterwards I felt anxious and didn't want to go out. I'm more dubious of people I don't know.
"I can't understand why a grown man hit someone for nothing."
Smith, 30, of Waterworks House, Fulwell Pumping Station, Sunderland, who has 19 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and theft of the phone and was jailed for 28 months.
Shaun Routledge, defending, said: "He is embarrassed about his behaviour in relation to these teenagers. He was under the influence at the time and the footage shows his peculiar behaviour.
"On the one hand he is friendly with the boys on the Metro but on the other he reacts to the slightest thing for no reason. He has had a problem in the past with cocaine, cannabis and alcohol. He took solace in things one ought not to take solace in. He has not taken cocaine for 12 months and has stopped taking cannabis."
Read next:
- Grandad joked of being 'done for baby snatching' during sex chat with 'child'
- Raging Gateshead thug left DJ with brain injury for kissing his former girlfriend's hand
- Byker drug dealer said she was selling cocaine in Newcastle city centre to buy new curtains
- Bedlington man set fire to girlfriend's clothes after falsely accusing her of being in porn video
- Gateshead murderer 'Billy the Bump' who went on to rape girl jailed for 27 years
