A student was punched in the head in a nightclub corridor.
The man had earlier had an altercation on the dance floor of The Bullingdon, Cowley Road, with attacker Christopher Fox and another man on October 13, 2019.
Oxford Crown Court heard that Fox, 30, had exchanged words with the man in the corridor of the nightclub at the end of the evening.
The victim, who was with his girlfriend and heavily intoxicated, admitted he may have told Fox to ‘f*** off’ before he walked away.
CCTV footage showed the defendant chasing after him before landing a punch to the back of his head.
Later in the evening, Fox and his friend – who had earlier struck the victim on The Bullingdon’s dance floor – crossed the road outside the club and again attacked the man.
The victim was taken to hospital and found to have broken his eye socket. Pains to his face saw him return to the John Radcliffe Hospital a week later, when doctors discovered he’d also fractured his cheekbone.
In a victim personal statement read by prosecutor Gary Rutter, the student said the incident had left him anxious on a night out. He now felt ‘unsafe’ in the city when he should be enjoying himself or studying.
Sentencing him to 11 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Michael Gledhill QC told Fox: “Whatever had happened at the beginning of this [altercation] it is quite clear that your victim was under the influence of alcohol to a significant degree. You too had been drinking although were not as intoxicated as he was.
“Even if you were in the right at the beginning of the incident, you went completely over the top in your sustained attack of him in the corridor and later outside.
“You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. A 30-year-old man, good work record, no convictions, behaving as a thug.”
Fox, of Stert Street, Abingdon, pleaded guilty to affray. He had no previous convictions.
The waste management firm employee previously claimed he’d acted in self-defence, saying his victim had threatened to stab him.
Mitigating, Gerard Pitt said his client was remorseful, sorry for his behaviour and ‘very anxious’ about the possibility of being sent to prison.
Judge Gledhill said it would not be in the public interest to send Fox to jail, instead ordering he complete 150 hours of unpaid work and up to 32 rehabilitation activity requirement days as part of his 11 month suspended sentence.
He must pay £600 compensation to his victim and £600 costs.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on [email protected] or 01865 425 445.
