Thug jailed for brutal gang attack on victim
‘Big lad’ joined others in horrific assault on a man who he didn’t even know
A DRUNK thug joined in with a brutal attack on a homeless man in Piccadilly Gardens after seeing others laying into him.
Sean Hughes, 23, became involved in the horrific assault at 3am on a Friday, after a gang had already circled the victim and started repeatedly kicked him.
The victim suffered a bleed on the brain and had to be put into a coma.
Work colleagues on a night out came across the grim scene near Burger King, and were horrified by what they saw.
One woman said: “They were kicking really hard, I could hear the thuds from the impact clearly.”
A member of the public who had first aid training helped the man, who was covered in blood, before the ambulance arrived.
The man in his mid-30s had to be put in a medically induced coma.
Hughes, from Sale, was seen on CCTV and was arrested, while others in the gang have not been caught.
“He had absolutely nothing to do with you, you had absolutely nothing to do with him,” the judge, Recorder Anna Vigars QC told him.
“It should have stayed that way.” CCTV operators had noticed the homeless man being attacked at about 3am on July 23.
One member of the work night out described Hughes as a ‘big lad,’ who was ‘doing most of the kicking.’
The victim was being kicked to his head, face and torso, prosecutor Lisa Boocock told Manchester Crown Court, sitting at the Hilton Hotel. “I could tell tell they were really trying to hurt him,” a woman on the work night out said.
A brave member of the public intervened to stop the attack, and gave first aid.
The victim was left unconscious and doctors expressed ‘great concern’ about his condition, having lost a lot of blood.
He later discharged himself from hospital, and police haven’t been able to find him since to check on him. Hughes was caught after CCTV operators saw him about ten hours later, in the same clothes and in the same area. Ms Boocock said Hughes had got involved ‘for no reason other than wishing to perpetrate violence.’
His barrister Anna Chestnutt said that he had turned to drink following the death of his aunt, who he was ‘very close’ with, and the break up of his relationship.
He was drinking two 70cl bottles of gin a day, the court heard.
“He blames no-one but himself, he knows it is completely out of order,” Ms Chestnutt said.
The judge said she accepted that Hughes genuinely regrets his behaviour.
Hughes, of Chepstow Avenue, Sale, was jailed for five years, after admitting section 18 wounding.
They were kicking him really hard, I could hear the thuds from the impact clearly Woman who witnessed the attack