Suspended sentence for "sustained" attack in Goldthorpe

Jay Cadwallander (38), of Washington Road, Goldthorpe, assaulted a 55-year-old man at Highgate Working Men's Club, Goldthorpe, on January 1 last year.

He was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday (4).

Mr Carl Fitch, prosecuting, said Cadwallander’s victim had been out drinking for most of the day and by the time of the assault, at around 9.30pm, he had drunk around eight pints.

He was standing at the bar on his own and became aware of a woman who was feeling his back and pulling his clothing, said Mr Fitch.

“He told this woman to go away and tried to move away from her around the side of the bar, however, she didn't desist,” Mr Fitch told the court.

The woman was Cadwallander’s partner and he was also standing at the bar at the time, the court heard on Monday.

The 55-year-old pushed the woman away because she would not stop touching his clothing.

“[Mr Cadwallander] then delivered punches to the head of the victim and, whilst he was on the floor, stamped on him four times, kicked him and backheeled him — all of this to his head,” Mr Fitch told the court.

Footage was played in court of Cadwallander’s assault, which left his victim with bruises and grazes on his face and scalp, and grazes on his shoulders and chest.

Cadwallander was arrested four months later and admitted the offence to the police. 

He later admitted in court to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 

Mr Sean Fritchley, mitigating, said Cadwallander lived with his partner and was “a hard-working gentleman”.

He added: “The person on the CCTV footage is not the person his character references would describe.”

Mr Fritchley said Cadwallander’s partner was a part-time sports therapist and had been giving the 55-year-old man a massage.

“It was a rash act and the reality is that thankfully the man didn’t suffer serious injury,” Mr Fritchley told the court.

Sentencing Cadwallander, Recorder Ray Singh said the injuries the victim suffered were “fortunately... less serious than initially thought”.

Recorder Singh described the attack as “repeated and sustained” and placed it in the highest category of offending.

He said he had decided to suspend the sentence partly because Cadwallander was in full-time employment.

“To lock you up in this matter would cause hardship not only to yourself but also to your immediate family,” he said.

Cadwallander must carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and pay the victim £600 compensation.