Thug jailed after admitting three cowardly attacks
VIOLENT bully Michael Pederson bit and gouged the eyes of a vulnerable teenager, whipped a man with a dog chain and attacked a social club member in three separate attacks on one night.
A 15-year-old boy with autism was among the 28-year-old trained boxer’s victims during a spate of cowardly assaults.
Pederson admitted assaulting a man with a dog chain in an apparent case of mistaken identity, punching a social club committee member after being asked to leave then subjecting the youngster to a terrifying assault in a park.
Now the 28-year-old, of Astley Road, Seaton Delaval, has been jailed for a total of 30 months at Newcastle Crown Court. Daniel Barrass was jailed earlier this year for his part in attacking the teenager.
The court heard the first attack involved a man being savagely beaten in Holywell, Northumberland, around 8.40pm on the evening of September 28 last year.
Pederson, who was with Barrass, approached the victim, who was in his car with his girlfriend, and shouted abuse.
He tried to encourage his dog to attack him and when it wouldn’t, he removed its chain and started hitting the man with it with “full force”, using an overhead motion.
Pederson then started smashing the windows of the man’s BMW with the chain, while his girlfriend was still in the passenger seat.
Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said: “The complainant said it was unprovoked, he had never met either of them before and believes it was mistaken identity.”
The victim, who suffered bruising and swelling on his arm and swelling and a cut to the back of his head, said: “I have no idea why they treated me this way, I was petrified, not only for my safety but for my girlfriend.
“I feel angry and disgusted by what happened.”
The man, who had been training for cage fighting and boxing, added: “There is no place in society for people with weapons.
“The assault could have been much worse and my injuries more severe, it was just by chance I was able to walk away from this.”
He said the damage to his car cost more than £1,000 to repair and the psychological effects have been significant and left him in “turmoil”.
Around 8.45pm, Pederson went to a social club in Seaton Delaval with Barrass, who was barred.
They were politely asked to leave and Pederson punched a committee member in the face, leaving him in pain and shocked.
Later that same evening, the 15-year-old victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was in Astley Park, Seaton Delaval, with some friends.
Pederson and Barrass approached them and told them to turn their pockets out but they didn’t.
The boy went to a takeaway but returned after finding out his friend had been grabbed and thrown into a bush.
The youngster confronted Pederson, saying “Do you think you are a big man, attacking a 14-year-old lad.”
Pederson said “I will have you then”, to which the boy replied saying he didn’t want trouble.
Mr Pallister said: “Then, without warning, the defendant right hooked him, causing a cut.
“He then grabbed him, pinned him to the ground and assaulted him further.
“The defendant put his fingers in his eyes and he felt attempts were being made to gouge his eyes.
“He was punched in the stomach, he bit him on the neck and Barrass then joined in, hitting him in the ribs and back of the head, kicking him three times to the ribs and twice in the head.”
The victim, who could not see out of one eye, staggered away while the attackers fled.
The court heard he was left with bruising to his ribs, a cut under his eye and a superficial bite mark to his neck which meant he had to have hepatitis injections, and lacerations and grazes, as well as a nasal septum deviation.
He said in a victim impact statement he had gone from being “confident and joyful” to feeling suicidal as a result of the attack.
Pederson went on to assault police who attended a domestic argument between him and his partner on June 21, while on bail, threatening them with a dumbbell when they asked him to leave.
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possessing an offensive weapon and criminal damage in relation to the first victim, common assault on the social club committee member, a joint charge with Barrass of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the 15-year-old and assaulting an emergency worker.
The court heard he has 37 previous convictions, including for outraging public decency.
John Wilkinson, defending, said: “His best mitigation, some might say his only mitigation, is the fact he pleaded guilty to all of these offences. He is bitterly ashamed of what he did.
“The pre-sentence report says the victims were not targeted but rather whoever crossed his path and whoever he perceived as confrontational would have become a victim of his anger.”
Eight people were arrested on Thursday after a day of fun in the sun spiralled into chaos on the North Tyneside coast.
Locals reported witnessing ugly scenes around Cullercoats and Tynemouth as the hottest day of the year attracted huge crowds to the seaside villages.
Police received several reports of beach-goers fighting and causing disorder.
Now three men, all from Gateshead, have appeared in court on affray charges.
Tony Cowell, 27, of Lough Court, Jordan Cowell, 21, of Bewick Road, and Michael Cowell, 26, of Warwick Court, appeared before magistrates.
The case was adjourned and the men’s next hearing will be at Newcastle Crown Court on July 24.
Nathan Whittle from Cullercoats described the scenes in the small seaside community on Thursday as ‘chaos.’
He said: “I have lived by the coast for two-and-a-half years and I have never seen the coast that busy.
“I drove past Longsands at one point to go to Tesco and I could not even see the sand as there were so many people on the beach.
“There were just so many idiots about and there were families and kids there who just should not have had to witness it.
“I could not believe just how many sirens were going off all day, the police were just going backwards and forwards - even later on in the day they were still flying around.
“People were just walking about drunk, almost getting hit by the traffic.
“There were these other guys MC’ing with a big speaker like it was an after-dark rave and they were drunk, swearing and stopping traffic.
“People were mortal drunk and this was during the day.”