THE VICTIM of a vicious assault who was left surrounded by a ‘pool of blood’ in St John’s has been awarded just £200 compensation from his attacker.
On October 15 police were called to Henwick Road about 10.55pm by ambulance staff.
Officers arrived to find Jack Ridley lying opposite the junction with with Oldbury Road covered in blankets with blood pouring out of his head, Worcester Magistrates Court heard last Friday (December 5).
George Agius, a friend of Mr Ridley, was kneeling next to him with dried blood on his upper lip and told police the pair had a verbal argument with a man on Henwick Road 20 minutes earlier before the attacker and an accomplice came back and assaulted them.
The court was also told Shaun Lisseman, of the YMCA, was the man who punched Mr Agius in the face before he hit Mr Ridley which caused him to fall back and knock his head on the pavement.
He was taken to hospital with a 2cm cut to the back of his head which required four stitches.
Police went to the YMCA, spoke to staff and viewed CCTV to identify the 26-year-old.
He was arrested and told officers he assaulted them both after they had threatened him.
While in custody, he was also found to have £10 worth of cannabis on him.
He was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and slapped with a 16-week curfew from between 10pm and 7am.
Lisseman, defending himself, said: “I am sorry for my actions. It was just a heat of the moment thing. I shouldn’t have done what I did.
“I was meeting my friend and as I was walking down the road towards the Co-op, they were dressed as women and that is how the argument began.
“When I met my friend we ran back up to confront them.”
Along with Mr Ridley’s compensation, Lisseman was ordered to pay £50 compensation to Mr Agius, fined £50 for possession of cannabis and given an £80 victim surcharge.
District Judge Nigel Cadbury said: “This is a serious incident because of the injury you caused to Jack Ridley.
“I do bear in mine this was one punch but that can kill people because if they fall on to a pavement and crack their skull, just slightly more that what was caused here, you could face a manslaughter charge.”
