A THUG who knocked a “defenceless” woman unconscious with a single punch inside a Workington nightclub has been jailed.
After drinking “heavily”, Stephen Leo McDowell lashed out as he and his partner argued inside Paduas, Washington Street, on the night of July 29.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how his partner’s friend, Shannon Bell, tried to calmly intervene. But shocking CCTV footage showed 24-year-old McDowell punch Miss Bell once, hard, in the face with his left fist. Miss Bell was knocked unconscious and, as she lay bloodied and injured, her attacker could be seen to walk off.
She sustained a fracture to her eye socket, suffered pain and numbness to her face and later told police she was left feeling “terrible”, “sick and stressed”.
McDowell admitted causing Miss Bell grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for 22 months today by Judge James Adkin, who spoke of the defendant’s “dreadful” criminal record, including past offences of violence.
“I have seen the video,” Judge Adkin told father-of-two McDowell, of Eskdale Crescent, Workington. “It was a forceful punch to the face of someone who, in my judgement, was a defenceless woman who was a peacemaker.”
A restraining order was imposed, and will prevent McDowell having any contact with his victim for 10 years.
