TWO thugs have been jailed for launching a savage midnight attack on a man outside his north Cumbria home.
Carl Beattie left his house near Penrith on March 14 after hearing a car horn sounding and initially walked up his driveway in darkness after seeing nothing. But Mr Beattie then felt a sudden punch to his face and, over the course of several minutes, was subjected to a brutal and protracted joint assault by Mathew Craig Graham, 25, and Thomas Scott Hodgson, 31.
Shocking CCTV footage which captured the incident showed the pair delivering sickening kicks and stamps to Mr Beattie’s body as he desperately battled to defend himself. After hearing noises and seeing her son in trouble, Mr Beattie’s mother, Sheila, pluckily went to try and help. She was unable to halt the violence which did stop when she spoke of alerting police.
Carlisle Crown Court heard the incident occurred against a background of animosity, Mr Beattie and Hodgson having been in relationships with the same female.
Mr Beattie suffered numerous injuries, including a bite from Hodgson and a cut having fallen on broken glass. In the aftermath, he spoke of suffering severe physical pain, blurred vision which had persisted and reported a loss of confidence and anxiety.
Both Graham, of Hayocks Road, Stevenston, Ayr, and Hodgson, of Haweswater Close, Penrith, admitted a charge of actual bodily harm assault. Graham also admitted assaulting Mrs Beattie, and separate charges of dangerous driving, drug-driving and no insurance following a Carlisle police pursuit in September during which he hit speeds of 50mph in the city and up to 80mph on the outskirts.
After hearing mitigation and reading positive references on behalf of both defendants, Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Graham for two years and Hodgson – who also admitted cocaine possession – for 18 months.
“There was certainly a degree of premeditation in your actions that night,” Judge Barker told the pair. “Mr Beattie is certainly fortunate that this attack did not result in greater injury.”
