A man was left with constant headaches after he was punched from behind in a cowardly attack as he attended to a woman on the floor. The assailant later claimed he had "misunderstood" the situation before punching the victim in the head.
Michael Murphy, 40, assaulted Jay Eglen outside a pub in Cardiff on January 29, causing him grievous bodily harm. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard the defendant delivered a single "forceful" blow to Mr Eglen as he came to the aid of a woman lying on the floor.
In his sentencing remarks Recorder Andrew Hammond said: "At the time in the seconds immediately leading up to the delivery of that blow he head his back to you. He did absolutely nothing to provoke or deserve your attack upon him. It's neither the case you felt threatened by him. It was self-evident he posed no threat to you."
Read more: Get the latest court cases sent to your email inbox with our Crime & Punishment newsletter
The assault in Ely was caught on CCTV and Murphy, of Heol Solva, Caerau, was arrested. The defendant later pleaded guilty to a section 20 grievous bodily harm. The court heard he had three previous convictions for drug and driving offences.
In a victim personal statement read to the court Mr Eglen said: "Following this incident I suffered constant headaches and migraines as a result of concussion." He said he was unable to work for a week which resulted in the loss of £600. Mr Eglen added: "This incident was completely unprovoked and was completely unacceptable."
In mitigation defence barrister Marian Lewis said her client "misunderstood and misread the situation" before assaulting the victim. She said that following his arrest the defendant made full admissions, expressed remorse for his actions, and asked about Mr Eglen. Since the incident Ms Lewis said the father-of-two was off from work having suffering mental health issues after a number of bereavements.
Murphy was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work, complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and to pay £2,000 in compensation.
You can sign up to our regular Crime and Punishment newsletter here while this interactive tool allows you to check the latest crime statistics for your area:
