Published date: 11 January 2016 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
THOMAS Scanlon attacked another man with a metal bar and photographed him as he cowered on the floor – then put it on Facebook.
When the victim pleaded with him to stop the attack, Scanlon said he would stop when he was ready.
Scanlon then dragged out the bleeding victim from the flat and left him badly injured in the communal area of the flats at Pensarn.
Mold Crown Court heard how he then posted the photograph on Facebook with a caption which read “I am sorry, ha,ha,ha.”
Today, Scanlon, aged 23, of no fixed abode but who had lived at Rhos-on-Sea, was jailed for four and a half years after he admitted wounding Jamie Bagnall with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.
The court heard it was all over a stolen iPad computer.
Judge Niclas Parry told him: “This was a revenge attack – a total over-reaction to a dispute between you and Mr Bagnall.”
The reality was that the defendant intended to do it, had thought about it and had threatened to do it.
It had been a sustained attack, repeated blows with a heavy weapon, a number to the head.
“The attack continued when the victim was on the floor begging you to stop,” he said.
Mercifully the injuries were not as bad as they could have been. “You could have killed him,” Judge Parry declared.
Such was the victim’s concern that he left the area and moved to Manchester.
The defendant had “bragged about what he had done” and there was further demeaning conduct by posting a photograph on social media.
Scanlon, he said, was a man with a poor record – previous convictions for 68 offences including numerous convictions for violence.
A ten year restraining order was made under which he is not to contact the victim in any way.
Prosecuting barrister James Coutts said that the defendant was in a relationship with the victim’s sister and they had two children.
It was accepted that Mr Bagnall stole an ipad off his sister, which belonged to one of the children, and Scanlon made a threat on Facebook to “get” the defendant when he himself was released from prison.
On day in March Mr Bagnall was at a flat when the defendant approached him with a metal bar and said “I told you I would have you.”
He struck him to the head several times with the bar, and the victim fell to the floor, pouring with blood.
The victim was struck so hard he feared he would be killed. He was also punched and kicked and when he begged him to stop Scanlon said he would stop when he was ready.
Mr Coutts said that the victim was curled up in a ball trying to protect himself but the defendant dragged him out into the communal area and shouted at him “don’t come back to this flat again.”
Later that evening a photograph of Mr Bagnall cowering on the floor was posted on Facebook by Scanlon who wrote “I am sorry, ha,ha,ha.”
The victim needed surgery, had severe injuries including four deep cuts to the head and an injury to his elbow.
In a victim impact statement he told how he was worried each time he heard a door opening and had now moved to the Manchester area in order to get away. He was left with scars, he could not work and could not lift anything.
Owen Edwards, defending, said that his client appreciated that he had got himself into a huge amount of trouble.
He had only recently been released from prison when he sought revenge for the taking of the ipad, which the complainant accepted responsibility for.
Scanlon was keen to make a new life for himself, and had a new partner who was expecting his child. “He genuinely wants to turn his life around,” he explained.
A second man Shaun Evans, aged 27, of Marine Road in Pensarn, had originally been charged with wounding with intent amid allegations that he had lured the victim to the flat.
But those allegations were not pursued, the prosecution offered no evidence against Evans, and a formal verdict of not guilty was recorded.
see-http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/157118/north-wales-man-attacked-victim-and-shared-photograph-on-facebook.aspx
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