Wrexham,North Wales - Fire attack on man’s hair in Wrexham was ‘very stupid’

Published date: 26 February 2016 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
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A CLUBBER who set a man’s Afro-style hair on fire was told by a judge yesterday that it had been a “desperately stupid” thing to do.

But defendant Daniel Lloyd, 26, burst into tears of relief in the dock at Mold Court when he was told he was not going to prison.

Judge David Hale gave Lloyd of Ffordd Elfed in Wrexham, a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and was excluded from the New York New York bar in Wrexham for the next two years.

Lloyd was ordered to pay his victim £500 compensation.

Judge Hale said it was a “desperately stupid thing to do in view of the potential serious consequences”.

“It could have been far more serious,” he explained.

Lloyd had admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm on November 28 last year at the local magistrates’ court and the case had been sent to the crown court for sentence.

The court heard that the attack had a significant effect on Ulises Dominguez-Garcia.

Prosecuting barrister Sarah Morgan said that a CCTV recording showed Lloyd igniting Mr Dominguez-Garcia’s hair with a lighter. 

He was alerted by staff at the bar that his hair was on fire, and they helped him to put it out. There had been an incident earlier in the night in which Lloyd’s girlfriend had come up to him and alleged that Mr Dominguez-Garcia had touched her inappropriately, prompting the response from Lloyd.

In a victim impact statement, the complainant said he did not want to go back to the bar. 

He had changed his hairstyle because of the attack, was nervous when he went out and tended to stand in a corner so that he did not have his back to other people.

Defending barrister John Hedgecoe said the defendant’s employer and previous employers had taken the trouble to write references on his behalf and they showed that he was a decent man. He had no relevant previous convictions.

That night he had been drinking Jagerbombs rather than sticking to beer. He was told that the complainant had groped his partner’s bottom and ended up setting his hair alight.

He was full of remorse for what he had done and appreciated that the consequences could have been extremely serious.

see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/159080/fire-attack-on-man-s-hair-in-wrexham-was-very-stupid-.aspx