Soldier battered sister’s ex in a ‘revenge’ attack
Afghanistan vet with ‘dreadful record for violence’ jailed
AFORMER soldier branded a “violent menace to society” left his sister’s ex-boyfriend with a bleed on the brain after he battered him on a Birmingham street.
The victim was repeatedly punched and also suffered a broken jaw which required extensive surgery.
Birmingham Crown Court heard he was spotted in a Pershore Road cafe by Afghanistan veteran Luke Steed and followed as he stepped outside.
Steed knew him because in 2011 he had been in a relationship with his sister and had been sentenced to six months for assaulting her, the court heard.
Steed, 30, of Glebe Street, Walsall, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for two years and four months
Judge Dean Kershaw told him: “You realised it was him and you made the decision to attack him. “You knew you were going to hurt him. You punched him with real force.
“You are a trained fighter and your anger got on top of you, as it has on a number of occasions in the past.
“The injuries are at the very top end of the scale.
“You have a dreadful record for violence and you have become, it seems to me, over time a very real violent menace to society.
“There was an element of revenge here, to get back at him for what he had done. He had to have extensive surgery and it will affect him for the rest of his life.
“I am in no doubt you are suffering from an element of PTSD.”
The court heard the victim was punched six times in the head and face until he blacked out. He spent ten days in hospital and had a metal plate fitted in his jaw. It happened on March 26, 2019.
In a statement the victim said he had been left in serious pain, had problems sleeping and had not been able to eat properly.
And he said he had been “looking over his shoulder”.
Police were able to trace Steed through a van he was connected to and through Facebook.
Niall Skinner, defending, said Steed had been working as a roofer at the time and went on: “It was despicable and ugly and in public and the defendant knows that. He is sorry for what he did.
“He is a trained soldier and he is well equipped to fight and has served a number of tours abroad, including Afghanistan.
“He is well trained in restraint, the restraint he failed to use on that occasion.
“He knows he lost his temper and should not have done it.”
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