Thug sentenced after brutal beach attack
ATEENAGER suffered a fractured eye socket and cheek in a seemingly unprovoked attack.
Joseph Ogg unloaded a flurry of punches to the back of Robbie Jackson’s head after a day spent drinking on Ainsdale beach.
Ogg, 19 and of Myrtle Grove, Southport, initially claimed in a police interview that he had acted in self-defence but Liverpool Crown Court heard there was no provocation when he launched the ‘nasty’ attack.
Prosecuting, Zillah Williams said that the victim, then 17, had gone to the beach with friend Gary Melia on June 24 last year.
They met up with more friends and spent several hours there, during which time Ogg was also there in a separate group that knew the first group.
The exact reason for Ogg launching the attack shortly after 10.30pm remains unclear, with the victim believing it occurred as he attempted to break up an argument involving Ogg.
Ms Williams said: “Without warning, the defendant without any provocation started punching Mr Jackson to the back of the head about three or four times.”
Friend Mr Melia recalled a slightly different version of events in which Mr Jackson jokingly referred to him as ‘virgin’.
Ms Williams explained: “Mr Melia took that as a joke and that it was directed at him.”
The victim was taken to
Southport Hospital having sustained a fractured right eye socket, fractured right cheek and cuts to his eyelid and cheek.
There was also heavy swelling across his face and Mr Jackson was referred to a facial surgeon at Aintree Hospital but ultimately no treatment was required.
He experienced numbness to his face in the months after the attack and still has visible scarring.
In a victim personal statement summarised by Ms Williams, Mr Jackson said he was forced to miss two weeks of work after the incident, had been left anxious to go out, and fears the impacts of the attack will stay with him for a long time.
Ms Williams said that Ogg has one previous conviction for common assault for which he was handed a seven-month youth referral order.
Defending, Paul Wood conceded that offence crossed the custody threshold but argued that a suspended sentence was a sensible option due to Ogg’s remorse, young age and actions since the incident.
Mr Wood said Ogg was using cannabis heavily during the time of the attack but has not taken drugs since and stopped drinking after Christmas.
He said that Ogg is now working as a labourer and hopes to be taken on as an apprentice in order to learn a trade.
Mr Wood explained that Ogg had experienced and witnessed domestic abuse at the hands of his father during childhood and said his mum believed he was a ‘nice, kind’ person who needed help with counselling.
Sentencing, Judge Andrew
Menary QC said the attack happened after Ogg ‘no doubt had been drinking’.
He said: “This was a wholly unprovoked attack on a young man for no reason other than perhaps you took offence to something said by him or friends.
“It was a completely pointless attack.”
He warned Ogg that he came very close to being locked up as he handed down a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months.
Ogg, who earlier pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, was also ordered to pay £1,400 compensation to his victim and complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities.
The judge also issued a restraining order banning Ogg from contacting his victim for the next two years.