TWO young men who repeatedly punched and kicked another man in a brawl and left him unconscious on the ground – so that one eye-witness thought he was dead – have each been locked up for 15 months.
The victim of the brutal night-time attack by 19-year-old Joseph Francis Jordan and 20-year-old Jordan Anthony McGonagle had to be flown to Southampton Hospital for treatment by brain specialists before spending 12 days in Jersey’s General Hospital.
The victim has reported sleepiness and memory problems ever since the attack, which took place in Lilly’s Mini Market, a supermarket and bar in La Motte Street, on the evening of 9 May.
CCTV footage of the incident was shown in the Royal Court, with Jordan and McGonagle seen punching the victim and kicking him while he was on the ground – the fight then spilled out into the street.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said: “McGonagle punched him on the left side of the head and Jordan punched him on the right side. He hit his head on the pavement and was knocked unconscious.
“One bystander said: ‘I think he’s dead.’ ”
Jordan and McGonagle fled the scene and CCTV from later that evening showed them walking through the town centre topless. Their T-shirts were found dumped in a bin outside McDonald’s.
Crown Advocate Hallam said that the offence was too serious for non-custodial sentences and argued for youth detention sentences of two years each.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending Jordan, described the attack as “an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment reaction”.
She said that Jordan had certain mental-health problems, but pointed out: “He does not try to hide behind them. My client does accept total responsibility.”
She said he felt genuine remorse towards the victim and his family, and argued: “He should and could be given a chance.”
Advocate Paul Nicholls, defending McGonagle, added: “What we are concerned with here is a brawl which the victim started.
“The two young men overstepped the mark.”
The prosecution argued that Jordan and McGonagle were equally to blame, but referring to the CCTV footage, Advocate Nicholls asked: “Who is more culpable here? Who is responsible for hospitalising the victim? It is not my client.”
However, both men received identical sentences, of 15 months in youth detention each. Neither Jordan nor McGonagle had previous convictions, but the Jurats decided that the grave and criminal assault was so serious that non-custodial sentences could not be justified.
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said: “The seriousness of the offending and its consequences mean that we cannot appropriately deal with this with non-custodial disposal.”
Jordan and McGonagle were also each ordered to pay the victim £790 in compensation.
The Jurats sitting were Robert Christensen and Alison Opferman.
