Boasting thug broke man's jaw in Wakefield nightclub after telling friends: 'Watch this'
A drunken show-off thug broke a man’s jaw in nightclub before he punched his girlfriend on another boozy night out months later.
Bailey Read sobbed as the judge at Leeds Crown Court said he would “take a chance” on him, giving him a suspended sentence, despite having a history of violence.
He had admitted GBH without intent, assault, and two counts of assaulting police officers after he lashed out while being arrested.
The court heard that Read was in Nocturno on Westgate in the early hours of November 9 last year when he attacked a man stood at the bar.
Read was heard to say: “Watch this, watch what I’m going to do.”
He then grabbed the man, whom he did not know, and put him in a headlock. The man pushed him off and asked what he was doing, before Read punched him to the face and challenged him to a fight, before leaving.
The man was left struggling to open his mouth so took a taxi to the hospital.
Scans showed he had a fracture to either side of his jaw and required surgery to insert screws. He needed two weeks off work and was left struggling to eat.
Read, of Cooper Way, Wakefield, was identified through CCTV and inquiries with Uber. He was arrested but gave a no-comment interview, before being bailed.
Then on March 3, he was out in Wakefield city centre again, drinking in Popworld on Westgate with his girlfriend, prosecutor Andrew Strong told the court.
When a man spoke with her at the bar, Read became angry with her and threw at a glass at her outside the bar, which luckily missed.
He then punched her to the face. A nearby police officer heard the commotion and tried to detain Read, who ran off, chased by the police and street marshals.
When they caught him he lashed out, catching the officer in the face. He was quelled with PAVA spray.
He continued to be aggressive on the way to the police station, claiming he was a boxer, before trying to bite an officer.
He was initially charged with GBH with intent for the Nocturno incident, but this was reduced to GBH without intent.
Read has convictions for battery, ABH and GBH without intent - receiving 22 months in 2020 in a young offender institute for the latter.
Mitigating, Andrea Parnham said he was remorseful for his latest offences. She said he had witnessed domestic violence as a youngster.
Judge Richard Mansell KC told Read: “I consider you to be genuinely remorseful.
“You plainly have insight when you are sober, and the effects alcohol has on you.
“You clearly want to be a different person from the one who committed these offences.”
Read, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand since the attack on his girlfriend, burst into tears when the judge said he would not keep him locked up.
He was given an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, ordered to complete an anger-management course and 20 rehabilitation days with probation.
Judge Mansell told him: “If you get blathered while you are out, you know what will happen.
“I’m giving you a chance, some judges would not, please do not let me down.”