‘FERAL’ ATTACK
Footballer kicked man in head
A “FERAL” Wales international footballer has been locked up after she admitted repeatedly kicking and stamping on a man as he lay on the ground.
Chloe Louise Hughes, 18, got four months in a young offenders’ institution for the attack on Gareth Williams outside a Spar shop in Bethesda.
Robert Michael Stephens, 28, admitted affray and possessing an offensive weapon in the same incident and was jailed for 12 months.
A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been dealt with by a youth court.
Judge Huw Rees told Hughes and Stephens at Caernarfon Crown Court: “This was a disgraceful incident of feral behaviour which has no place in a civilised society.
“The message that needs to get out is that anyone who kicks or stamps a person on the floor can expect to go to prison. You could have killed him.”
The court heard Hughes, the youth and the victim had been passengers on a bus from Bangor during the early afternoon of March 15. Words had been exchanged between Hughes, of High Street, Bethesda, and Mr Williams.
Anna Price, prosecuting, said Hughes texted Stephens to meet the bus, and as soon as all three got off she slapped Mr Williams in the face and wrestled him to the ground.
CCTV footage showed Hughes getting up and then kicking and stamping on the man on the ground. She walked away and then returned and aimed a kick at his head.
The youth, who had been fighting someone else, ran across and kicked Mr Williams. A short distance away Stephens was seen to kick another person once.
When police arrived, Stephens, of Brynteg Place, Bethesda, was found to have a ring with two raised studs in his pocket. The judge said the item, similar to a knuckle-duster, was “frightening”.
Dafydd Roberts, defending, said Hughes had been the youngest woman to be chosen for the Wales national football team and had hoped to play professionally.
He said the last year or so had not been good for her and she had been punished for failing to comply with court orders.
“Nothing I say detracts from the seriousness of the assault. Fortunately the injury caused was relatively minor,” said Mr Roberts. “She felt threatened by something on the bus but nothing justifies her behaviour.”
On behalf of Stephens, Mr Roberts said he couldn’t offer an explanation why the weapon was found in his pocket. “There is no suggestion he went to use it. He accepts he delivered a forceful kick which does him no credit at all,” he said.