GBH thug spared jail after breaking victim’s skull
Yob, 21, in court over 5am attack outside nightclub
AFATHER-TO-BE who left a man with a fractured skull and bleed on the brain in a one-punch attack outside a nightclub has been spared jail. John James Crisham, of Waterfoot, punched victim Alan Turner to the side of the head during a large 5am melee outside a club involving rival groups.
Burnley Crown Court heard 21-year- old Crisham had taken alcohol and half an ecstasy tablet and ‘perceived wrongly’ that his friend was about to be attacked by Mr Turner.
The victim suffered a fractured skull from the ear canal to the end of the jaw bone and bleed on the brain, the court heard. Recorder Christopher Hudson told Crisham he had avoided jail by the skin of his teeth.
He described it as a terrible incident and said Crisham had acted disgracefully.
AFATHER- TO- BE who left a nightclub reveller with a fractured skull and bleed on the brain has avoided prison ‘by the skin of his teeth’, a court heard.
John James Crisham, of Taylor Avenue, Waterfoot,
punched victim Alan Turner to the side of the head during a large 5am melee outside a club involving rival groups, the hearing was told
Burnley Crown Court heard how the 21-year-old had taken alcohol and half an ecstasy tablet and ‘perceived wrongly’ that his friend was about to be attacked by Mr Turner.
Prosecutor Stephen Parker said Crisham was ‘on the periphery’ of a large group of males outside MACs bar in Burnley town centre on November 12, 2017, and punched Mr Turner once to the head.
He told the court: “Mr Turner has no recollection of the assault at all. He remembers being outside the club and at some point speaking to a friend. The next minute he was in hospital saying he had no idea how he got there.”
The court was told that scaffolder Crisham walked away from the scene with Mr Turner lying immobile on the street, but quickly realised the implications of his actions.
Witness Amy Lord said there ‘was a lot going on’.
In a statement, she said: “There was a group of people fighting with each other. There was another group fighting with another group. They were going round hitting loads of different people.”
The victim suffered a fractured skull from the ear canal to the end of the jaw bone and bleed on the brain, the court heard.
He was kept in hospital under observation for 24 hours before being released.
Mr Parker said he suffered no facial nerve damage but still suffered from tinnitus and had to take time off work for treatment.
When Crisham was arrested and interviewed the next day, he told police that it was a ‘pre-emptive self-defence punch in defence of his friend’ and used ‘reasonable force in the circumstances’.
Mr Parker said: “[The defendant] accepted it was him who threw the punch but said his actions were reasonable and in defence of his friend.”
Crisham, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to GBH. He was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, with 200 hours unpaid work, a three-month curfew from 9pm to 5am and ordered to pay £1,000 compensation.