Man jailed for homophobic attack on student outside Boombox in Weymouth town centre

The sentence entails three months for the assault, plus an extra month for its homophobic nature.

Martin Keith Stephens, of no fixed abode and currently imprisoned at HMP Winchester for a previous crime, pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman, aged 19, on Bond Street in Weymouth in the early hours of Friday, May 11, this year.

Crown prosecutor Charles Nightingale told Weymouth Magistrates Court that 39-year-old Stephens, who had been drinking heavily, had been attempting to engage in conversation a friend of the victim, an A-Level student.

"An altercation arose between the defendant and this group of young people outside the Boombox nightclub," Mr Nightingale explained, adding that the victim had tried to draw her friend away from Stephens outside the club on the seafront.

Annoyed by this intervention, Stephens 'lost his temper', the prosecutor went on, explaining that the defendant had grabbed the victim by her hair and thrown her against the wall of a building at the bottom of Bond Street, before punching her in the mouth. The assault left the woman with blood streaming from her mouth and major swelling on the back of her head.

Stephens also launched a tirade of homophobic abuse against his victim, Mr Nightingale said.

The victim called the police, despite threats from Stephens that if he spent 'even a day in jail, she would pay for it', the court heard. The defendant also threatened to '****ing kill' the victim, the prosecutor added.

Chairman of the bench Sue Acland handed down a four-month sentence, noting that one of the months was for the the homophobic nature of the attack. The sentence will run concurrently with Stephens' ongoing 18-month sentence for a previous crime.

In mitigation, defence solicitor Simon Lacey noted that Stephens had pleaded guilty in a timely manner, despite disputing some details of the charge. "He wants everyone involved to be able to move on," Mr Lacey said.