A bully who tormented a classmate throughout their school years went on to unleash what a court heard was “horrific” violence on him in adulthood.
Jayson Miller attacked the man twice in the space of a week, at one point beating him with a bicycle seat and kicking him in the head. Photographs taken after the assaults show the victim with his face smeared in blood, marked by deep cuts and heavy bruising. Newcastle Crown Court was told he has been left terrified to leave his home after the unprovoked attacks.
The pair had known each other for years. Opening the case, prosecutor Mia Nath said Miller, 22, had bullied the victim throughout school, “making his life hell” despite there being no falling-out between them.
The first attack took place on January 5 last year, at around 2.20pm, when Miller encountered him walking home. Miller shouted at him and pulled down a balaclava, and the victim told him to go away.
Miller jumped off his bike and sprinted towards the victim before punching him twice above the eye and threatening to hit him with his bike seat. "Watch what happens next," Miller warned the man, who was left with bruising and grazing to his head.
On January 12, a week later, the same victim had got out of a friend's car just after 10pm and began to walk home via his allotment because it was a route on which he felt safe, the court heard.
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"He was walking through an alley when he heard an electric motor. Two men jumped off a bike and started to attack him," Miss Nath described. The first male was the defendant, wearing a balaclava, which he took off. The second man kept his balaclava on, and his identity is unknown.
"Both men punched the victim in the face at the same time. He tried to put his hands up to protect himself, and they then punched his arms and hands.
"One punch connected with his nose, causing instant extreme pain, and it started bleeding. Both men were hitting him with tight fists with lots of force by pulling their arms back before hitting."
The victim fell to the floor, but Miller and his accomplice started kicking him in the head. "He described the kicking as really hard," Miss Nath said.
Miller then fulfilled his threats from the week before, retrieiving his bike seat and using it to strike the victim to the legs, then the head, causing injuries. He then said, "I hoped you liked the kicking".
Miller demanded tobacco from the victim, and when given it, he threw it away, warning him, "Get yourself away home and don't mess with me and the boys."
The court was shown pictures of the victim following the attack, with blood all over his face, badly bruised and cut, and he had two black eyes. In a victim impact statement, he said: "I'm petrified and don't want to leave the house. I'm anxious in case he is there.
"I'm always looking over my shoulder even when I'm with my parents. I'm usually out of my house all day at my allotment. Since then, I've not wanted to go even there. I've been lying in bed most days and sleeping lots since the incident."
Miller, of Queen Street, Ashington, Northumberland, who has four previous convictions, including for burglary, theft and using threatening or abusive words and behaviour, pleaded guilty to assault by beating and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was sentenced to ten months suspended for 18 months with a £162 fine. He was also handed a five-year restraining order. Recorder Richard Stubbs told the thug the violence was "disgraceful and unprovoked" and caused "real harm both physically and psychologically".
Jordan Parkinson, defending, said: "The offending is horrific and the defendant is ashamed of his behaviour and embarrassed to find himself before the court today.
"He has ADHD and this causes him to have a quick temper and to act on impulse. He is remorseful and wishes to pass his apologies to the victim.
"He had no reason to behave how he did other than his symptoms and his age. His offending is linked to his mental health and immaturity. He wants to address his offending behaviour going forward."
