Jailing the offender, a judge said ‘people are sick and tired of going out and having to witness violence’
A violent and aggressive troublemaker viciously punched another man in the face, causing a fractured skull, after a “horrible” unprovoked attack in a Bridlington sea view bar in the early hours of the morning. Brooding and bad-tempered Lee Marshall seemed to be “determined” to fall out with everybody there and wanted to get himself into a fight, Hull Crown Court heard.
Marshall, 32, of Trinity Road, Bridlington, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on the man on February 23 this year. He also admitted separate offences of possessing a knuckleduster as an offensive weapon and possessing edible cannabinoids and about 3g of cocaine on February 21, 2023.
Stephen Welch, prosecuting, said that a 22-year-old man was out socialising in the Apollo bar, in the Prince Street harbour area of Bridlington, in the early hours when Marshall attacked him. The victim had no memory of the incident.
Marshall was in an agitated state throughout the evening and a member of the public approached him and tried to act as a peacemaker by putting his arm around him and talking to him. Marshall pushed him away and he seemed to have an issue with everyone.
He asked the 22-year-old: “What the f*** do you think you are looking at?” He punched another man twice but landed a heavy punch in the main victim’s face, knocking him to the floor and causing a fractured skull that needed major surgery.
The victim was in hospital for 10 days but he did not remember any of his time there and he later needed a lot of rest. His emotions varied from day to day and veered from being angry one day to being upset or frustrated on another.
The man struggled to sleep and started to suffer headaches. He suffered a permanent scar on his head. When he eventually returned to work, he was doing just 16 hours and not the 40 hours that he previously did, meaning a loss of money.
He did not now like going out alone. His mother later said that she received a phone call at about 3am and got to Scarborough Hospital at 3.45am. Her son was making “awful” noises and her “world came crashing down”. She followed the ambulance on the “horrendous” journey from Scarborough Hospital to Hull Royal Infirmary for an operation to “reconstruct his skull”.
She said: “I just cried: ‘Why? Why? Why?’ Me and his dad stood there praying he would come through.” Her son came out of a coma and the surgeon said that he was lucky to be alive.
“He still has a long road to recovery,” she said. They were all taking it one day at a time after the “horrible ordeal”.
David Godfrey, mitigating, said that Marshall had shown genuine regret and remorse. “He doesn’t try to diminish that it was a cowardly thing to do,” said Mr Godfrey.
“He knows that what he did that night was disgraceful and he is grateful that a recovery has been made. He would like to apologise.”
Drug and alcohol use had started to cause Marshall some really serious issues but he was receiving help. “He has made some significant inroads and changes to his life,” said Mr Godfrey. “He is producing negative drug tests. He has made some real, seismic changes.”
Judge John Thackray KC told Marshall: “You were clearly being aggressive. People were trying to placate you and you were behaving aggressively. You were determined to get yourself into a fight.
“What you did was strike your victim with a very heavy punch, which caused a grave injury. This could so easily have been a fatality. These courts are well familiar with a single punch causing death.
“Had a fatality occurred, you would have been facing a manslaughter charge and many years in prison. The consequences of your actions on your victim have been profound and severe.”
Judge Thackray said of the attack: “It’s not impulsive and it’s not spontaneous. You were under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
“It was in a public place. People are sick and tired of going out to the city centre and town centre and having to witness violence from those who have had too much to drink and all the consumption of drugs.”
Marshall, who had been on bail, was jailed for 18 months. “It may be that you could be rehabilitated or your risk could be managed in the community,” said Judge Thackray. “Only appropriate punishment for violence of this level can be achieved by way of an immediate custodial sentence.”