A Crown Court judge has criticised the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to apply lesser charges to a violent criminal who launched an unprovoked attack on an autistic teenager.
Jake Campbell, 26, pictured above, headbutted, punched and choked 20-year-old Jacob Comertoglu shortly before Christmas last year.
Jacob was on his way to see the Christmas lights in Bodmin when Campbell repeatedly hit him, blacked his eyes and left his face covered in blood. Jacob's injuries are clearly shown in the image below.
Despite satisfying many of the charging criteria for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), the CPS went against its own guidelines and instead charged Campbell with the lesser offence of common assault.
ABH, an either way offence, has a maximum sentence of 6 months' imprisonment and/or a fine at level 5 on summary conviction; 5 years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment. Common assault, a summary offence, has a maximum sentence of 6 months' imprisonment and/or a fine at level 5 on summary conviction.
Campbell's attack on Jacob put him in breach of an earlier Crown Court suspended sentence order, which is why the case - despite involving a summary offence - was sent to Truro Crown Court for sentencing.
Campbell appeared before HHJ Robert Linford at Truro Crown Court yesterday.
Judge Linford said: "How on earth is this a common assault? [The CPS] are utterly wrong and I can only sentence him on the charges he faces. This was not a temporary injury.
"This was ABH and it's ridiculous it could be thought of as anything else."
Prosecutor Holly Rust told the court the assault was Campbell's second breach of a suspended sentence after he was convicted of an offence of wounding last year.
Describing the attack, she said: "Jacob felt a sudden blow to the left of his face without warning and everything went white for a few seconds. He was then hit repeatedly and describes spinning for a few seconds.
"[Jacob] did not walk away, instead asking what he did wrong. The defendant told him nothing and to walk away but when he didn't he was choked and headbutted before the defendant let go."
Campbell, of no fixed abode, has 75 previous convictions.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Jacob said he was confused and helpless by the sudden attack and did not want to walk away until he knew what he had done wrong. He added that he had been told to stand his ground when dealing with bullies.
Barry Hilliard, mitigating for Campbell, asked Judge Linford to spare his client immediate custody for the assault and breach of the suspended sentence.
He said Campbell had been making positive steps with the Probation Service and was in regular work.
Judge Linford deferred sentence until 23rd December, telling Campbell that if he stays out of trouble and meaningfully saves for compensation, he will avoid a prison sentence.
However, he warned that if Campbell misbehaves, he faces a year in prison for breaching his suspended sentence, with an additional four months for the assault.
Update (4/7/20): We have just revisited this case in a future article, so thought we would provide an update on the eventual outcome. Barely a fortnight after HHJ Linford deferred sentence in this matter the defendant, Jake Campbell, breached his suspended sentence order for a third time, this time by being drunk and disorderly. True to his word, the Judge activated the 12 month suspended sentence in full and added an additional 4 months for the vicious assault on Jacob Comertoglu. The Judge also fined Campbell £100 for being drunk and disorderly.
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