Woman left with bleeds on her brain after 'friend' repeatedly punched her following a night out in Kettering
A man ‘turned on’ his friend who tried to diffuse a row, punching her while she was on the floor.
Jordan-Lee Radford attacked the woman following a night out in Kettering’s pubs and clubs.
She was left in hospital with a head injury that continues to have an impact on her life nearly three years later.
Radford, 27, was in court yesterday (Thursday, March 5) to be sentenced after admitting ABH.
Prosecuting, Damian Warburton said that Radford and the victim had been friends and had enjoyed drinking as part of a larger group in Kettering’s pubs and clubs.
They had been out on the night of April 14, 2023, when Radford got into a disagreement in the pub with a male drinker. They all went back to Radford’s house – including the man – and the argument started up again.
Mr Warburton said: “The victim intervened to try to diffuse things and he turned on her.
"He pinned her to the floor and was punching her multiple times to her face and chest. With each punch her head was banging off the floor.
"She would have been powerless to stop him.”
In police interview Radford, of Welland Vale Road, Corby, and formerly of Kettering, denied the offence and instead tried to paint the victim as the aggressor.
The victim provided two statements to the court, one just after the incident and one in January this year.
There had been a delay in the case coming to court as Radford had initially denied actual bodily harm. He pleaded guilty at a later court hearing.
In her first statement, read by Mr Warburton, she said that she had been ‘terrified’ during the attack.
"Before the assault I considered him to be a friend,” said the victim.
"When I got to hospital after the assault I was told I had two bleeds on my brain and that they were speaking to Coventry University Hospital to get me transferred there.
"I asked the staff member if I was going to die. He was unable to give me a straight answer.
"They told me I had to go to Coventry to take the pressure off my brain.”
In the end the victim was able to be treated locally but was left with a large lump on her head and on medication to prevent seizures.
She said she had flashbacks and the incident had had an impact on her four children, who were left scared and withdrawn.
“I’m scared about leaving the house,” she said.
"And every time I do leave the house I’m worried about seeing him. Someone who knows Jordan has told me he said that he should have finished the job off.”
In her second impact statement the woman said that the incident continued to have a significant impact on her life.
The woman said the stress eventually led to the breakdown of her relationship with her partner.
“I used to love going out in town with my friends,” she said. “But now I’m constantly looking around to make sure I’m safe.
"I sit with my back to the wall in pubs.”
She said that she had seen the defendant several times on nights out and that, despite his bail conditions, he had not left the venues when he saw her. She said that on one occasion door staff had asked her to leave instead.
Radford had one offence on his criminal record, for battery in 2015, as well as four cautions for assault.
Mitigating, Dan Svoronos said his client denied saying that he should have ‘finished the job’ and that he had deliberately been in pubs when the victim was there.
"He feels ashamed about his behaviour on that particular night,” he said.
"He says he wished it never happened. He accepts he was completely out of order.
"He’s extremely sorry about what happened.”
The court heard how Radford, who wore a blue waistcoat and white shirt in court, had had a very difficult childhood, growing up in care from the age of 13.
Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane said Radford had been ‘very drunk’ during the incident and was now in stable supported accommodation.
He had not reoffended in the intervening three years.
She gave him a 20 month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. He will be subject to an overnight three month electronically-monitored curfew and will have to complete 40 rehabilitation activity days. Radford will also have to pay his victim £520 in compensation.
Judge Crane also imposed a restraining order banning him from going to the street in which his victim lives or any address where he believes that she is.