Man jailed for kicking unconscious rival in the head following street fight
A man has been jailed for kicking an unconscious rival about the head following a New Year’s Day street fight in east Belfast.
Glen Baker, 41, knocked out the victim’s teeth by inflicting up to five blows while he lay on the ground, a judge was told.
He was sentenced to four months in custody for the “appalling” attack on the other man.
Baker, of Inverwood Gardens in the city, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard the victim was targeted after he left a bar in the Newtownards Road area to walk home on January 1 this year.
He encountered Baker close to the so-called Freedom Corner and an initial scuffle broke out between the pair.
In a statement, the injured party described how he began to walk on following the clash before being attacked and punched again. “As I was laying on the ground Glen started to boot me to the head and face area,” he said.
The victim lost consciousness for a period, but recalled coming round to see Baker running away before police arrived at the scene.
“My tooth was also on the ground, Glen booted me in the face so much that I now have missing teeth,” he added.
The court heard Baker was previously in a relationship with the complainant’s current partner.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd accepted it had been a “nasty” assault which stemmed from years of bad feeling between the two men.
Based on CCTV footage, he said they had shouted at each other across the street before the injured party gestured for his client to approach him.
“It’s what they would refer to as a ‘fair dig’ and towards the end of this Mr Baker seems to get the better of him,” the barrister submitted. “There were some kicks administered and the injuries are significant.”
District Judge Austin Kennedy stressed how multiple blows had been inflicted.
He told the defendant: “It is appalling behaviour Mr Baker, a lot of people lose their lives because of such assaults.
“To kick someone on the head five times whilst prone on the ground unresponsive is quite simply disgraceful.”
Jailing Baker for four months, Mr Kennedy also ordered him to pay the victim £1,000 compensation