Middlesbrough man jailed after New Year's Day assault left victim brain damaged

A drunken attacker who left his victim with brain damage after an assault on New Year’s Day, has been jailed.

Craig Gibson, 25, from Middlesbrough, who had a previous conviction for wounding, was told by the judge that he could not expect anything less than prison.

He felled a man with one punch as he walked home in the early hours of New Year’s Day, fracturing the base of his skull as he hit the ground.

Prosecutor Jodie Kidd told Teesside Crown Court that the victim had suffered speech and memory loss, had still not recovered and was feeling pain.

The man was detained for days in the neurology department at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, after the 12.40AM attack in Saltersgill, Middlesbrough.

The pair had a disagreement in the past, and Gibson approached him and punched him in the face knocking him to the ground.

Duncan McReddie, defending, said that Gibson took immediate action to change his life, and he had quit drink, got a hard manual job and had impressed his employer, and he had become a good family man to his partner and their young son.

Mr McReddie added : “He has turned his life around as a direct result of this incident.

“He has looked back on this incident ashamed, embarrassed and appalled, and as a consequence he has put his life back in order.”

The judge said that Gibson had 29 convictions for 50 offences including wounding, and that a lot of it was drink-related.

Judge Peter Armstrong said that the victim was simply walking in the street on his way home when Gibson approached him and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground and leaving him with a brain injury.

The judge told him: “There had been some previous trouble between you, and whatever had gone on.

“He was in hospital for some time and it has affected his speech, there was some form of brain damage, but it appears to be getting better.

“Had this been your first offence it might have been possible to follow the suggestion of the pre sentence report and your counsel to suspend the sentence.

“But there comes a time when the court simply has to send someone to prison to punish someone for what they have done.

“I’m afraid you can’t expect anything other than immediate custody.”

Gibson, of Brereton Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for eight months with a £100 statutory surcharge after he pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He was also given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim and his partner or approaching their home.