A teenage drunk left a young woman with a bleed to the brain when he punched her unconscious in Nottingham city centre. CCTV played at Nottingham Crown Court showed Cameron Parry’s victim fall and hit the back of her head on the pavement following his blow to her face before he runs off.
On the footage, members of the public come to her aid as she lays motionless on the ground. After being rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre, a CT scan revealed the bleed and swelling to her jaw. In a victim impact statement the young woman, who is in her early 20s, says she is now fearful of going out in the city centre and socialising with friends like she used to. And the now 20-year-old, of Bestwood, cried in the dock when he thought he was going to be sent immediately into custody.
Handing Parry a suspended sentence, Recorder James Willan said: “The courts see cases where a single punch causes life-changing injuries or even death so you have to realise how fortunate it is this young woman was not more seriously injured and you are not facing even more serious charges.
“I accept the attack was out of character for you and was significantly contributed to by your drunken state. You reported yourself to the police and apologised and I believe you are sorry for what you did to that young lady.”
Anthony Cheung, prosecuting said the incident took place shortly before 3.30am in the early hours of March 30, last year. He said the victim had left Rock City with two friends when there was an argument between her and Parry, who was a total stranger to her, outside the Theatre Royal.
On the footage she is seen to use her phone to film him and he angrily knocks it from her hand, picks it up and throws it towards the direction of the Copper Bar in Upper Parliament Street. In the clip the victim follows him demanding to know his name and he pushes her with such force she ends up falling to the ground outside Foreman’s Bar.
Then, as Parry attempts to get into a taxi in Milton Street, she lunges at him and he retaliates by punching her unconscious and running off.
Mr Cheung said: “He leaves her motionless and unconscious on the floor. She was taken to the QMC and had suffered serious injuries including a bleed to the right hand side of her brain. In her victim impact statement she says she now avoids certain areas of town.
“She said she used to go out and socialise with friends into the early hours but now she doesn’t.”
Unemployed Parry, of Lechdale Road, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and has no previous convictions of any kind. Andrew Wesley, mitigating, said his client’s ADHD and his alcohol intake that night had contributed to the behaviour.
He said: “He apologises. His regret and remorse are unequivocal.
“He is a man who is sorry and who the probation service have assessed as being of low risk of reoffending.” The judge handed the defendant a three-month sentence of youth detention, suspended for a year, with a six-month curfew and 15 rehabilitation sessions. He also ordered Parry to pay the victim £1,000 compensation.