Drunken thug jailed at Preston Crown Court after Great Harwood pub brawl
A pub customer needed dental treatment costing almost £5,000 after he was hit in the face by a flying glass during a mass brawl in a busy bar.
The young man also had 18 stitches in facial wounds after a drunken thug jumped on a seat and started hurling pint pots around the room, a court in Preston was told.
Dylan Pilkington, 29, was jailed for 12 months for what a judge described as a “reckless” assault which left the innocent bystander with lifelong injuries. But Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi said he would not have to pay compensation to his victim because he was going straight to prison.
She heard the victim, who was standing talking to friends when “all hell broke out”, needed months of expensive dental treatment and will probably need more in the years ahead. He had also needed therapy.
She watched CCTV footage of the incident which happened after Pilkington had been on an all-day drinking session. The video showed him knocked to the floor twice in the brawl before getting up, leaping onto a bench seat and throwing five beer glasses at the crowd, one of them smashing into the victim’s face at the other side of the room.
“He (the victim) was not taking any part in this,” said prosecution barrister Paul Brookwell. “He didn’t know Pilkington, he had never seen him before the incident.”
The injuries he suffered meant he had to be fitted with temporary dentures to repair some of the damage done. His mental health had subsequently suffered, said Mr Brookwell, because of the reaction of people to his appearance.
“In his view he went from having perfect teeth to being a joke. People started calling him names. It hit his confidence. He didn’t want anyone to see him. He still struggles in company and in crowds.”
The court head that the incident happened after a fight broke out in the toilet corridor at The Vault bar in Great Harwood. The punch-up spilled into the bar area and at one point up to a dozen young men were fighting.
Pilkington was seen on CCTV being knocked to the ground twice during the brawl and eventually he struggled to his feet and reached for a pint glass to use as a weapon. He stood on a seat at the edge of the room and started throwing glasses towards those who were fighting.
The victim is then seen on camera staggering across the room holding his bloodied face.
He was taken to hospital by his mother for treatment in A&E. His injuries included a badly gashed lower lip and a cut above his left eye. He lost one tooth and had other teeth damaged.
“He had a lot of dental work on his teeth,” said Mr Brookwell. “In total it cost him £4,744. I would invite you (the judge) to consider compensation. No doubt he will have further dental bills to pay in the future.”
In a victim impact statement the victim said his reaction to the attack was one of “shock and disbelief”. Prior to it he considered he had perfect teeth after wearing braces for four years.
Doctors put in a dozen stitches to his gashed lip and another six in the wound above his eye. He had to drink through a straw for a few days after the incident and was only able to eat soup.
Barrister Bob Elias, for Pilkington, said his client had “clearly had quite a lot to drink”. Commenting on the video evidence he added: “An undignified melee prevails. The inhabitants of the pub don’t seem to be slow to come forward to get involved in the violence.
“On two occasions he is being knocked about. His case is he was knocked out for a brief moment. In a frightened and confused state he stands on the bench and throws a number of glasses, pretty much randomly.
“He is very sorry he did that. He has expressed his remorse. Most of the inhabitants of the bar seem to join in – he was far from the most violent.”
He said that the victim had been disfigured by the glass “which he did not deserve”.
Pilkington, a roofer/labourer of Green Street, Great Harwood, was told by the judge that his victim had had to borrow money from his grandparents to pay for his dental bills.
But after sending him to prison she said she could not make an order for compensation because he would be serving an immediate custodial sentence.
“This has had a devastating effect on him (the victim),” she said. “To stand on a bench and throw glasses was reckless. You lost control.
“It was so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified”
She refused an application by the prosecution to impose a restraining order saying the two men were complete strangers and it was therefore not a targeted attack.