Teen bottled men in drunken attack
Birthday trip to County Town ended with assault
A drunken reveller has narrowly avoided jail after smashing two men over the head with a beer bottle during a night out in Maidstone.
Max Shepherd lashed out at Oliver Macdonald and Daniel Smith in a seemingly unprovoked attack in the early hours of the morning.
Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard the 18-year-old, from Surrey, had come to the town with a group of friends as they had heard it was a fun place to go out and were celebrating a birthday.
Deborah Jones, prosecuting, said the delivery driver could be seen on CCTV in Jubilee Square, walking up to a group of people with the glass bottle in his hand.
He moved away but then came back and was seen smoking and swaying.
Out of nowhere he lunged at Mr Smith, hitting him over the head and following through to catch Mr Macdonald on the ear. The pair had to be taken to a nearby medical tent provided by the Urban Blue Bus charity and then to hospital, where Mr Smith was treated for a cut to his head and Mr Macdonald was checked over after complaining of ear pain.
Shepherd, who had been drink- ing Jack Daniel’s and Coke all night, gave no comment during interview and still claims to not recall the incident.
He was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, and ordered to pay £500.
Imposing a six-month curfew to stay at home between 8pm and 6am, Graham Berry, chair of the bench, said: “Every time you’re stuck at home watching boring television while your friends are out drinking their Jack Daniel’s and Cokes you can reflect on how serious this was.”