Jail for taxi driver who attacked Cardiff City fan with fire extinguisher A taxi driver who brutally attacked a man with a fire extinguisher outside Cardiff Central rail station has been jailed for eight years.
Martyn Gregory Smith, 56, of Heol Briwnant, Cardiff, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after being found guilty at an earlier hearing of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.
The sustained attack was so brutal that witnesses admitted afterwards they thought Smith was going to kill his victim.
The court heard that on Saturday, 4 February 2012, the victim – a 25-year-old man from Rhos, near Neath – who had been to watch a Cardiff City match earlier that day, had arranged to meet two friends outside Cardiff Central.
At around 6pm, on his way to his friend’s car, which was parked in the short-term waiting bays at the front of the station, Smith claimed a bottle being carried by the victim came into contact with his vehicle.
Aggrieved, Smith then went after the victim, who was by now sat in the passenger seat of his friend’s car. He began remonstrating with the victim before attacking him with a portable fire extinguisher, hitting him repeatedly to the face and head.
At this point, the victim’s friend shouted: "What are you doing? You are going to kill him,” before pulling Smith away from the victim, who was bleeding heavily.
Smith then ran back to his taxi and drove off, the court was told.
The victim’s friend stated afterwards that had he not intervened, he believed his friend might have been killed.
A second witness, who was sat in a parked car next to the victim, said he heard shouting and turned to see Smith, brandishing a small red fire extinguisher, banging his fist on the front passenger door window. He went on to describe how Smith used the fire extinguisher to repeatedly strike the victim.
The victim admitted carrying a bottle of lager but denied he was drunk. He doesn’t recall the bottle ever coming into contact with the taxi but said that if it did, it was unintentional.
He suffered a number of injuries to his head, which required hospital treatment, and has been suffering severe mental trauma since the attack.
In interview, Smith claimed the victim had struck his taxi with a glass bottle and attacked him. Smith pushed him away in self-defence and he fell to the ground, which was when, he claimed, the injuries were sustained. Smith denied using the fire extinguisher to assault him.
Judge Stephen Hopkins described the attack as “ferocious”, adding it had had “devastating consequences on the victim, which will affect him for the rest of his life”.
Detective Constable Dilwyn Lewis, who led the investigating team from BTP Cardiff, said: “The victim was simply meeting friends when he was subjected to a sustained and ferocious attack with a weapon.
“Smith’s violent reaction to his claims that the victim had knocked his taxi with a bottle was completely irrational.
“As well as the physical injuries sustained to his head, which required stitches and staples, the victim has suffered a huge amount of mental trauma as a result of the attack, including confused speech, hallucinations, body tremors, loss of memory and severe anxiety.
“This incident has had a profound impact on his wellbeing - he has been forced to give up his job due to the injuries sustained. I hope that the fact that Smith is now behind bars can help him to start moving on with his life.
“There are no winners with the outcome of this case. A ‘just’ conviction resulting from one man’s moment of madness has severely impacted on the life of another man and his family.
“I welcome the sentence handed down to Smith and hope it goes some way to showing that violence and intimidation of this nature has no place on or near the rail network, or anywhere else.”
Smith was sentenced to eight years for grievous bodily harm with intent and a further 12 months, to run concurrently, for possession of an offensive weapon.
Read More
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... z22VBGNxRW
Login
Register
FAQ
