Shop boss’s attacker is sentenced

A business owner was left needing surgery after he challenged a man who was kicking the shutters of his barber shop.

Daniel Mason, 29, of Upper Fant Road, Maidstone, punched victim Havel Wehab in the face and threw a traffic cone at him during a night out in Rochester in October.

Mr Wehab had been passing his shop, Head Office barbers in the High Street, at 12.30am when he saw a man booting the security screen and told him to stop. Mason ran away but Mr Wehab followed him to Star Hill. There the businessman was punched in the jaw several times.

Andrew Jones, prosecuting, told the court the victim had suffered a black eye and broken nose. The bench heard he was having trouble breathing and experienced blurred vision.

In a statement, Mr Wehab said he had not been back to work since the incident, because he did not want his customers to see his injuries. He added: “I don’t feel safe in Rochester any more because of this man’s actions.”

Simon Holmes, defending, explained Mason had been taking out his frustrations on the shutter because he himself had been the victim of an unrelated assault that evening, which had left him in a lot of pain. He told police he did not remember much because he had been drinking, but regretted what he had done.

Mason admitted actual bodily harm at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a sixmonth curfew. He must attend 30 days of rehabilitation and adhere to an alcohol treatment requirement. He must pay £1,600 compensation and £200 court costs.