A man who meted out ‘blind thuggery’ on a Wantage street walked from court with a suspended sentence.

Ryan Almond, 29, rained down blows on his victim on October 7, 2020. He claimed that the other man owed him money.

His defence lawyer, Richard Davies, described the attack as a ‘very stupid mistake’ and said Almond had ‘taken steps to make sure that never happens again’.

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Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb hit back: “This was more than a stupid mistake. This was a bit of blind thuggery in a public street. You had no right meting out blows to this other man.”

Imposing 14 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, the judge acknowledged Almond’s mitigation and the work that he’d done to ‘put right his previous offending behaviour’.

He was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and up to 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and pay £1,000 compensation and £425 in costs.

Almond, of Hamfield, Wantage, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Lamb warned him about the likely result if he failed to comply with his suspended sentence order.

“If you don’t do the unpaid work, if you don’t do the rehabilitation activity requirement days, they’re part of the sentence and the court will regard that as part of the sentence. We’ll have you back and you can understand well the situation is that you will be resentenced and that can include going straight to prison.”

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