Unpleasant incident was ‘drunken violence’

JUDGE Andrew Woolman said it was ‘drunken violence’ and an ‘extremely unpleasant’ attack.

Sentencing, he told the court: “It’s a truly horrific incident. I have seen the photographs [of the injuries] and they are not pleasant to look at.”

He told Collins: “You have family responsibilities and work very hard. You being involved in an offence like this is extremely surprising.”

Darren Lee-Smith, defending fork lift truck driver and father-of-one Martin, said he had no previous convictions and was ‘capable of remaining offence-free’.

He said: “He wishes to express his remorse to the complainant. He can’t believe that he acted in this way.”

The court heard father-of-one Collins had 16 convictions for 27 offences and was on bail at the time for a separate incident.

Kevin Donnelly, defending Collins, said he had an ‘unimpressive record’ and that his violence was ‘often the result of binge drinking’.

He told the court: “He clearly does have issues with anger management and substance abuse, particularly alcohol.

“It’s a serious matter. It’s an attack involving two on one and involving weapons.”