A thug has been jailed after a savage attack on a Royal Navy serviceman outside a nightclub.
The victim was repeatedly punched by the drug-fuelled yob while trying to help a friend and has now lost his dream career, a court heard. He suffered "grave" injuries, including a broken wrist that later caused such serious problems that he had to be medically discharged from the Royal Navy. The abrupt ending of his Navy service shattered his hopes of a long career seeing the world and his life has changed "drastically" after the attack.
James Rollinson, 32, from Hull, was jailed for two years and seven months for the assault. It happened after he and a friend, Kevin Duffield, 39, were thrown out of The Welly club in the city in the early hours of the morning, reports HullLive. Rollinson caused mayhem throwing punches and assaulted another man who had been inside the club. The victim later explained that, when he went outside, he saw the men having an argument, involving a friend of his, just outside the doors.
He walked over to try to intervene but Rollinson assaulted him and he ended up on the floor and was punched repeatedly, the court heard. A security officer tried to intervene but Rollinson began hitting out at him, striking him twice on the jaw, causing bleeding to his gums. Rollinson also punched three of the security officer's colleagues.
Rollinson was described as "relentless" and wanted to "assault everyone in sight", by prosecutor Hannah Turner. He was the main aggressor and Duffield was egging him on him. Rollinson chased the Royal Navy serviceman to continue the assault. While another security officer was trying to stop the assaults, he was hit to the head three times. CCTV footage showed Rollinson causing mayhem. During the punch-up, the Royal Navy serviceman put his arms around Duffield but Rollinson spontaneously headbutted the man, who backed away slightly but became angry and moved towards Rollinson, who tried to hit out at him.
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Kevin Duffield, 39, of Hull, who was given a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to affray (Hull Daily Mail/MEN Media)The CCTV showed that a number of security officers were punched and Rollinson forced his way through them before reaching the serviceman and punching him repeatedly. The man ended up on the floor but Rollinson continued to punch him. The serviceman got up and walked away but Rollinson followed him and approached him in a boxing stance. Rollinson punched him again. Duffield punched another man in the face and Rollinson assaulted another man.
"There is a large scuffle and people intervene and try to stop him," said Miss Turner. Duffield tried to pull Rollinson away, the CCTV showed. Rollinson continued fighting but eventually stopped and managed to pull free and walk off, with Duffield following. Police arrived and Rollinson was arrested. The Royal Navy serviceman suffered serious injuries, including a broken wrist that was fractured in two places, an injured knee, a chipped tooth and a swollen lip.
The fracture was realigned but, because of increasing pain, he went to hospital and needed surgery. "He has lasting damage from that injury, which has caused him to be medically discharged from the Navy," said Miss Turner. The victim later said: "I didn't for one second think I would be assaulted. I had no idea the level at which I was damaged. I didn't for one second think my life would change so drastically." He had wanted to join the armed forces since the age of 14 and the Royal Navy was meant to be a career which would enable him to see the world. "I didn't think it would all be over," he said. "I thought I would recover and go back."
He added: "I tried to stop my friend from being assaulted and ended up having life-changing surgery myself. I am trying to rebuild my life. This is not what I had planned." Rollinson told police he had taken cocaine on the day of a Hull derby rugby match. He claimed that he could not understand why he assaulted the serviceman and that he must have felt threatened and had "seen red".
After Duffield was shown the CCTV, he told police: "F***ing hell, we look ridiculous. How embarrassing. We're grown men." Both said they were sorry. Recorder Paul Reid condemned the "disgusting behaviour" of Rollinson and Duffield. The injuries caused were "potentially devastating" and extensive surgery was needed.
"Your behaviour was appalling," he said. "This sort of behaviour is all too frequent outside clubs and bars." Rollinson admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. Duffield admitted affray and was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, 150 hours' unpaid work and a probation service Thinking Skills programme.
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