Man locked up for attacking angler with wooden pole
A thug who launched an attack on an angler who nearly drowned has been jailed for three years.
Darryl Manners was struck with a wooden pole by Carl Quinnell while he was next to the River Medway.
A judge told Quinnell, who has previous convictions for violence, it was an unprovoked vicious and brutal assault.
The victim was fishing in Tovil on September 28 when Quinnell approached and told him: “I told you when you are on your own what I was going to do to you.”
He struck Mr Manners and he went into the water.
Witness Donald Sweeney was in the garden of a friend’s home when he heard shouting. He saw a man on the bank shouting.
He added: “I saw just a head bobbing in the water about five or six feet out from the bank. A man was swearing.
“I shouted to my friend about someone in the water drowning. I had a small camera and I took a few pictures and gave them to police.”
A woman who lived in a flat nearby said she saw Mr Manners going down and thought he was going to drown.
“Paramedics arrived,” she said. “I was quite surprised the man who had been in the water was standing up. He had blood on his forehead. All the time the man was in the water I didn’t understand why the other people didn’t help him until he was under the water. They seemed to be oblivious to it.”
Mr Manners was in intensive care for seven days. He needed significant amounts of oxygen and a CT scan revealed an abnormal collection of blood on the back of his head.
He told in a victim impact statement how he now had difficulty drinking water without gagging and did not feel safe fishing or being around open water.
Quinnell, 51, of Church Place, Waterloo Street, Maidstone, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. He denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was acquitted by a jury.
Recorder Brian Argyle said: “The injuries suffered were serious. You carried out this attack in full public view. I regard this as an extremely serious case.”
A restraining order, banning contact with the victim, was imposed for two years.