Judge's warning to yobs as brothers jailed for attack in Weymouth street (From Dorset Echo)

Judge's warning to yobs as brothers jailed for attack in Weymouth street

7:30am Thursday 26th November 2009

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TWO brothers who kicked and stamped on a man as he lay defenceless on the ground have been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Sentencing judge Recorder David Bartlett said the punishment should serve as a warning to youngsters going out in Weymouth that drunken violence will not be tolerated.

Robert John Mummery and Jason Aaron Day were sentenced for a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent for their brutal attack on John Runyeard in Weymouth town centre in the early hours of May 9 as he walked home from a night out.

Mr Runyeard, 21, was left with serious facial injuries and required reconstructive surgery with metal plates inserted in his face.

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, said Mummery, 19, formerly of St Edmund Street, Weymouth, had nine previous convictions for 17 offences including actual bodily harm, affray and assaulting a police officer.

He said Day, 21, formerly of the Straits, Portland, had 17 convictions for 27 offences including three charges of battery and one of attempted robbery.

Tim Shorter, mitigating, said the two men had shown ‘deep and genuine remorse’ for their actions and had been using the time they had spent in prison on remand since May to try and tackle issues that had led to their history of offending.

He said: “The temptation they have fallen into from an early age was a way of socialising and dealing with various problems by drinking to excess as well as taking drugs.”

Mr Shorter added that Day had written a letter expressing his regret to Mr Runyeard in the hope that, in time, he would be able to forgive him.

Recorder Bartlett said: “The seriousness of the offence is that you first knocked Mr Runyeard to the ground and then – on the evidence of eye-witnesses and CCTV- both kicked and stamped on his face so much so that he was unconscious.

“There can be no doubt that you attacked a completely defenceless man.”

He added: “I hope the sentences I pass will give the message to the youth of Weymouth that this kind of drunken aggressive behaviour does not go unpunished, indeed it gets punished firmly.”

Mummery – who will spend his jail term in a young offenders’ institution – received a further six week sentence.

It will run consecutively, as the offence was committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence received in September last year for aggravated vehicle taking and drink driving.

He was also sentenced to one day in prison to be served concurrently after admitting a charge of possessing cannabis.

Attack victim John Runyeard has welcomed the sentence passed to Mummery and Day.

He also echoed the judge’s comments that he hopes it will send a message to people in Weymouth that violent behaviour on a night out is totally unacceptable.

He said: “It’s good to show Weymouth people that they just can’t go out and do things like that and he has made an example of them.”

Mr Runyeard, from Weymouth, says he is still taking pain killers as he recovers from an operation that saw metal plates permanently fitted in his face.

He heard in court of the brothers’ history of excessive drinking and drug use that stemmed from a troubled background.

Mr Runyeard said: “I do feel for them but that’s no excuse for what they have done.

“I would never do that to anyone.”

His mum Helen said: “I just hope they use their time in prison to sort themselves out.”

She added that now Mummery and Day had been sentenced it would enable her son to focus firmly on the future.

She said: “I would just like to thank the Crown Prosecution Service, police and all those people who have supported John, they have really helped us get through this.

“We are glad it is over and we can get on with our lives.”

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