[T]WO men have been sentenced for attacking a man who had his ear bitten in a Kendal park.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how Stuart John Grady, 29, began violence which erupted at Kendal’s Gooseholme in June, 2015. Victim Oliver Clarkson was knocked to the ground and, as other males joined in, was kicked and punched.
Witnesses, including Mr Clarkson’s girlfriend, were said to have desperately tried to intervene.
The attack ended after his ear was bitten by Dane Jake Johnston, 23. Mr Clarkson attended hospital, where he had an anti-hepatitis injection and stitches to repair a “nasty wound”.
Grady and Johnston were sentenced after they admitted assaulting Mr Clarkson, causing him actual bodily harm. Grady, of no fixed address, received a 12-month conditional discharge, while Johnston, of Sparrowmire Lane, Kendal, was given an 18-month community order comprising 100 hours’ unpaid work and 25 days’ rehabilitation.
Judge Peter Hughes QC concluded the two men – along with the victim and witnesses – had been “let down” by judicial system failings which caused a “wholly unacceptable” delay in bringing the matter to court.
Judge Hughes demanded a full report detailing what has happened since the 2015 incident was first reported to police.