Yahoo News Wedding guest repeatedly punched man and broke his nose in 'ugly incident'
A WEDDING guest broke the nose of a man who stepped in to try and calm things down after he lost his temper during the celebrations.
Anthony Groves, 31, of Penclawdd, was attending a wedding at Llety Cynin in St Clears on October 21.
Groves “took umbrage” with a female guest and “became aggressive” towards her, the prosecution said.
A man stepped in between the defendant and the woman and told Groves to ‘Chill out’. In response, Groves punched him twice in the face.
As the man was falling to the floor, Groves punched him for a third time.
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Door staff at the venue intervened and attempted to take Groves away. However, Groves grabbed the collar of one of the doormen and then punched him in the face.
Groves was later arrested by police at a Travelodge in St Clears. In his interview, he told the officers: “It scares me to know I’ve hurt someone. I just want to know he’s okay.”
The man Groves punched was taken to hospital. He had suffered a broken nose – which has affected his ability to breath out of one nostril, as well as having cuts to the back of his head and under his eye.
The doorman was left with swelling and bruising to the side of his face.
Stuart John, in mitigation, told Swansea Crown Court that Groves wanted to apologise to his victims and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
“His actions on that night genuinely disturbed him because he feels he showed a side of his character he didn’t think was there,” Mr John said.
“He has engaged with the crisis mental health team.
“There’s clearly a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”
The judge, Recorder Blakeman, described the attack as “an ugly incident”.
“It seems you have marred a wedding celebration,” Recorder Blakeman said.
“To put it bluntly, you appear to have lost your temper.
“It was an ugly, unnecessary, unpleasant couple of minutes.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself.”
He sentenced Groves to 20 weeks, suspended for 12 months. As part of this, the defendant must complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Groves must also pay £500 in compensation to the man he attacked, and £150 in costs.
