RAF man was hit as he ‘defused altercation’

AN RAF serviceman was knocked unconscious by a single punch after trying to defuse an altercation outside a pub, a court has heard.

The air traffic controller was left with a “gaping wound” on his forehead after being punched in the face by David Richard Bastiman.

Bastiman was out of prison on licence having served two months of a 15-month sentence when he set about his innocent victim outside the Met Bar in Llanelli town centre.

Swansea Crown Court heard that the 32-year-old has a history of alcoholfuelled violence around pubs.

Paul Hobson, prosecuting, said the attack took place around 1am on November 18 this year after Bastiman had been refused entry to the Met.

He said the defendant was “wound up and agitated” and got into a heated argument with another man outside the bar.

At the same time the RAF man was walking past the pub on his way home and he stopped to try to defuse the confrontation.

When he placed his hand on Bastiman’s arm the defendant turned around and punched him in the face “with a heavy blow”.

Bastiman left his victim unconscious and bleeding on the pavement and walked off. He was arrested a short time later in a nearby pub.

The prosecutor said the defendant was “aggressive and belligerent” when taken into custody and denied being at the Met Bar that night.

Mr Hobson said the man Bastiman attacked suffered an “unpleasant wound” which required stitches, but had declined to provide a victim impact statement in regard to the assault.

Bastiman, of Heol Elfed, Llwynhendy, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

The court heard he has four previous convictions for common assault, as well as one for inflicting actual bodily harm, and that “almost all of them appear to be fighting in the street under the influence of alcohol”.

At the time of the Met Bar attack he was out on licence from prison after being jailed for handling stolen goods. That offence saw him depositing 900 old-style £1 coins in his bank account, coins which had earlier been taken during a burglary at a children’s play centre.

He was sentenced to 15 months for the handling charge on May 4 this year, but the court heard he was subsequently released on licence on July 16.

Since being arrested for the Met assault he has been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his handling sentence.

John Hipkin, for Bastiman, said the defendant had indicated feelings of remorse for what he had done, and while it had been a “forceful blow” there had been “no followup”.

Judge Keith Thomas told Bastiman on the night in question he had been “drunk, aggressive and belligerent” to people who crossed his path, and had turned on an innocent man. Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty plea, the judge sentenced him to 20 months in prison.