Ex-soldier jailed for kicking man in head - court

12:54pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

A FORMER soldier has been jailed for kicking a man in the head in an unprovoked attack in Worcester.

Gavin Davies was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Worcester Crown Court after admitting assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Tim Sapwell, prosecuting, said Davies, of Buck Street, St John's, Worcester, lashed out at 20-year-old Stuart McMillan in Angel Street in the early hours of April 20 2007.

He said the victim had just left a kebab house with another man and two girls when a group of men approached.

"They were walking towards the station when he was approached and punched in the head and then kneed in the face and kicked in the head, face and body," said Mr Sapwell. "There were about six kicks altogether. There was no apparent reason for the attack."

Mr McMillan did not need hospital treatment but suffered a fractured cheekbone and bruising to the head.

Mr Sapwell said police were called to the scene and Davies was picked up and questioned by them.

He said he remembered very little of the incident as he had been drinking since the early afternoon.

He also told police that he had trouble controlling his temper.

He said that 24 hours later on the same road Davies committed an assault on another man, punching him in the head for no reason, which saw him subsequently sentenced for common assault in front of Worcester magistrates.

Judge Andrew Geddes was shown CCTV footage, which showed the assault on Mr McMillan and Davies walking away.

Adam Western, defending, said Davies, aged 24, had served in Iraq at the height of the war and prior to that had never been in trouble with the law.

He said: "He was just 17 and saw action in Iraq, in Basra. He saw men being killed and saw levels of violence most adults never see.

"It was the intention of the Army that he would get support when he got back to his base, but there was none."

Judge Geddes referred to psychiatric and psychological reports carried out on Davies before sentencing.

He said: "I have sympathy that you have seen traumatic events, but my first responsibility is to the public."

Editor's choice