Hyson Green driver 'poleaxed' drunk man with traffic cone
A young Nottingham man fractured a drunk man’s eye socket when he threw a traffic cone at his head and abandoned him unconscious on the floor. Nottingham Crown Court heard how the force of the impact sent Sufyaan Rasheed’s victim crashing to the ground, hitting his head and knocking him out.
The 22-year-old attacker, who was 20 at the time and of Hyson Green, then got in his car and drove off. Handing him an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years, Judge Michael Auty KC said: “It is plain he is a man with issues and I have no doubt whatsoever what he was doing was a nuisance and an irritation. He was throwing the cones in the road but none of them even came close to hitting your car.
“You went past, stopped, turned around in the road, picked up a traffic cone and launched it at him. I can’t be sure you deliberately threw it at his head but you certainly deliberately threw it at him.
“It hit his head, it knocked him out cold, left him there, got into your car and drove away. I am told you panicked and I understand that, but what would it have taken for you to telephone to get help and make sure he was alright? Instead, in effect, you abandoned him to his fate and he had sustained fractures.
“If you throw a cone, or anything else, you take the risk it causes damage. Imagine what would have happened if he had hit his head on the ground and died. You would have been charged with manslaughter and you would be going down those stairs with something like a 10-year jail sentence.”
Jeremy Janes, prosecuting, said the incident took place in Radford Road, Hyson Green, at around 11.25pm on March 14, last year. He said the victim later said he had been drinking whisky since the afternoon and had no recollection of the attack on him.
CCTV played to the court showed him throwing the cones onto the tram tracks before the defendant drove past him, did a three-point turn, got out of his car and threw the cone at his head sending him to the ground.
Mr Janes said: “He poleaxed him straight to the ground and left him there, got back into his car and drove off. He was unconscious and covered in blood and had to be taken to the QMC where a CT scan revealed a fractured eye socket.”
Rasheed, of Hovenden Gardens, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. He has no previous convictions of any kind.
Rahul Kumar, mitigating, said his client’s father left the family home and as the oldest son he is now the main breadwinner, holding down a number of jobs and going to college. He said: “He had a difficult upbringing with no father figure and he had to step up. He is a young man who is doing his best to support his family. His remorse is genuine.”
As part of the suspended sentence order the judge ordered the defendant to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.