Drunken thug broke man's arm 'for staring at him' as he put his wheelie bin out in city centre attack

Charlie Wellings attacked the innocent victim on Wood Street, Wakefield, in the middle of the afternoon after accusing him of staring.

Prosecutor Joseph Bell told Leeds Crown Court that 21-year-old Wellings had been with a friend walking through Wakefield at around 1.30pm on October 13, 2019, and was drinking from a can of lager.

As they walked along Wood Street, the victim left his flat to move his wheelie bins.

As he began walking back to his flat, he heard Wellings shouting: "What are you looking at?"

The victim said Wellings squared up to him and their noses were almost touching.

When Wellings began following him into the building and up the stairs to his flat, the victim told him he was going to ring the police.

Wellings charged at the victim and pushed him with both hands, causing him to fall to the floor and land on his arm.

Wellings and his friend left and an ambulance was called to transport the victim to hospital where it was found his arm was fractured.

He required surgery to have a metal plate inserted and endured months of physiotherapy.

CCTV footage from the city centre was released by police in a bid to trace the attacker.

Wellings, of Northgate, South Hiendley, later admitted a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The court was told that he has seven previous convictions for 10 offences, although none are for violence.

A probation report stated that Wellings accepted responsibility for his actions and had expressed remorse.

Christopher Morton, mitigating, said: "It was a nasty injury, but it was a single push and he did not foresee or intend the serious injury that resulted."

Mr Morton said Wellings, who had grown up in care, had himself been the victim of a serious assault last year in which he was struck by a hammer and stabbed in the back.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC gave Wellings a ten-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and told him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.