Suspended sentence for man over Didcot house party assault

Ryan Gordon, 28, had turned up late – and drunk – to his next door neighbour’s Didcot house party in November 2021. He left the Didcot house party relatively swiftly with his partner.

He seemed to have been angered after hearing the partygoers, who were outside smoking, ‘slagging him off’.

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Oxford Crown Court heard Gordon returned to his neighbour’s home, damaging some glass candlesticks and Christmas decorations.

“You had, obviously, completely lost the plot. Not surprisingly, you were asked to leave,” judge Recorder Paul Reid told him on Wednesday (March 29).

He grabbed hold of the homeowner – said to have been his close friend – placed her in a headlock and punched her in the face.

Others intervened to stop Gordon from causing further injury. One of those who stepped in, a woman, was punched three or four times in the head.

A third person was struck with sufficient force that she suffered a cut lip, the court heard.

Eventually, they managed to get Gordon out and locked the door behind him.

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A neighbour who had heard the disturbance and came out to investigate challenged the defendant, telling him to keep the noise down.

Believing the man to be part of next door’s party, Gordon threatened him with a knife and punched him.

The assault on the man stopped when he shouted ‘I’m just a neighbour’, the court was told.

In a victim impact statement, Gordon’s former friend said that even though she had a background in the military the incident on November 27 was ‘worse than a war zone’.

Mitigating, Peter du Feu said that his client and his partner had sold their house at a loss in Didcot and moved to live with Gordon’s in-laws in the Cotswolds.

Gordon lost his job at McDonald’s when his employers received letter from an – unnamed – informant telling them of the allegations. He had since obtained work at a pub, which he enjoyed.

Mr du Feu told the judge: “Mr Gordon is full of remorse. He expresses this in a genuine manner. He does not know how to make this better. He is so sorry and embarrassed about the whole situation.”

The offending was described as being out of character.

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The defendant, formerly of Marjoram Way, Didcot, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to public order offences and criminal damage.

Recorder Reid said he found it ‘extraordinary’ that Gordon had not been charged with affray, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment.

Describing Gordon’s behaviour as ‘utterly egregious’, he imposed six months’ imprisonment suspended for a year and a half. The defendant was ordered to pay £1,020 in compensation and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.