South Ribble men get suspended sentences for attacking friend over £2K debt
Two men have been given suspended sentences for assaulting a friend over an alleged debt
Two South Ribble men who attacked a mate over an alleged £2,000 debt have been given suspended sentences by a judge.
Ellis Day and Jack Steele-Gray, both 22 and unemployed, appeared at Preston Crown Court this week for sentence after pleading guilty to charges of assault causing actual bodily harm.
The court heard the two had known their victim for between six and 10 years – one of them went to the same High School as him.
But he was left with injuries to his head and chest after Steele-Gray punched and kicked him in the street in Leyland before the pair drove him to his house in a bid to recover the cash.
Lawyer John Parker, prosecuting, said a member of the public called 999 saying two men were hitting another man before he got into a white Ford Fiesta with them.
The victim had known Day for 10 years having gone to the same high school.
He had known Steele-Gray for about six years from “hanging about in Leyland”.
The man had got into “a situation” with Day a couple of years earlier over money.
He was walking in Stanifield Lane in Leyland when he saw Steele-Gray standing near some parked cars. He heard him shout: “Try running – I'm going to leather you.”
The man thought it would only make matters worse if he walked away, so he crossed over the road to meet him hoping to de-escalate the situation.
Steele-Gray told him he owed £2,000. Feeling scared he tried telling him he didn’t owe any money. He then saw Day in a white car parked nearby. He looked to be filming the confrontation on his phone.
He said Day shouted: “Smack him.” Steele-Gray started trying to punch him. He was hit several times on the side of the head and on the body. He then got into the white car with them and was driven to his house where he contacted his mother and asked her to transfer some money to pay them off.
His injuries included a cut to his ear and soreness to the right side of his chest and ribs.
When Day and Steele-Gray were arrested they both gave “no comment” interviews to police.
Mr Parker said the victim had declined to make a victim impact statement to the court.
The prosecution asked for restraining orders to protect the man, his mother and his sister from Day and Steele-Gray in the future.
Barrister Claire Larton, defending Day, said her client had been 21 at the time of the offence and had no previous convictions. She said he had appeared not to accept full responsibility for his part in the attack in an interview with the probation service.
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“His lack of acceptance in the pre-sentence report is merely a reflection of his age and lack of maturity.”
She added that his first “brush with the law” had been “a mistake”.
Day, of Malthouse Way, Penwortham, had already spent 41 days in custody on remand as police investigated an initial charge of kidnap, but that was not pursued.
David Traynor, representing Steele-Gray, of Malden Street, Leyland, said his client had also spent time in prison on remand while denying the kidnap charge.
His circumstances were very similar to those of Day, both had no previous convictions, were the same age and were both unemployed. He too lacked maturity.
He added he had no issue with a restraining order barring his client from having any contact with the victim. But he disputed it was necessary for his mother and sister.
Judge Kirsty-Ann Gunn said both men had “acted out of your own form of justice” by confronting the victim in the street.
It was Steele-Gray who had committed the physical assault in which the man had been punched and kicked and had suffered cuts and bruises.
It had not been a spontaneous act and it involved the two defendants acting together in a group activity.
She sentenced both men to 24 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered them to attend up to 20 days of rehabilitation activities.
“If either of you commit any further offences (in that period) you will return to court and should expect custodial sentences.”
She made both men the subject of restraining orders, banning them from making any contact with the victim for the next five years.
But she turned down orders for his mother and sister because she didn’t feel they were at similar risk.