Rugby player must pay out £3,500 after ‘cowardly’ punch
ARUGBY player who smashed an opponent’s jaw with an off-the-ball punch has avoided jail but must pay his victim £3,500 compensation.
Pontardawe prop Sion Keiron Jones launched the unprovoked attack on Ferryside second-rower Christopher Rogers in the final moments of a match between the teams.
Mr Rogers spent two days in hospital and needed metal plates and screws inserting in his jaw following the incident.
Jones had denied assaulting the Carmarthenshire player, saying he had been under a pile of bodies at the bottom of a ruck at the time of the incident and knew nothing about it. But he was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm following a trial in July.
The 35-year-old defendant was back in the dock of Swansea Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for the attack, which the judge described as “unprovoked and cowardly”.
The assault took place in the final minutes of a match between Pontardawe RFC and Ferryside RFC at the Swansea Valley side’s Rec pitch on October 14, 2017.
In the last play of the game a
ruck formed in the Ferryside half of the pitch following a scrum and Mr Rogers retreated to take his position in the defensive line.
Moments later, Jones ran at the Ferryside player from behind the ruck and punched him in the side of the face with a “swing” of the arm while the second-rower was looking the other way.
Mr Rogers was knocked to the floor and briefly lost consciousness.
The trial heard Mr Rogers himself did not see who had punched him and he could remember nothing of the assault itself.
He told the jury that when he regained consciousness he was on the floor his jaw was swollen, there was blood coming from his mouth, and with his tongue he could feel bone inside his mouth.
However, other Ferryside players did see the assailant and identified him as the Pontardawe prop-forward Jones.
During the trial Jones, of Min y Rhos, Ystradgynlais, had maintained he was not responsible for the assault.
At the sentencing hearing the court was told the victim of the assault no longer plays rugby.
David Singh, for Jones, said his client was a working man with no previous convictions who acted as a carer for his unwell mother and who was well-regarded in the local community.
The barrister asked the judge to follow the recommendations of a probation report on Jones and not imposed immediate custody.
Judge Keith Thomas told Jones he had punched his victim in the face in an “unprovoked and cowardly” act. He said the offence crossed the custody threshold, but having regard to the pre-sentence report and character references he had read, and Jones’ lack of previous convictions, he believed there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and so it was appropriate to suspend the sentence.
Jones was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for 18 months and must complete 180 hours of unpaid work. The prop must also pay his victim £3,500 compensation at the rate of £50 per week.