by Keith Hunt

A thug who fractured a man’s cheekbone when he struck him with a plaster cast on his arm has avoided a jail sentence.

Scott Towers clashed with victim Aaron Hill at the Blues Rock Cafe in Gillingham on August 8 last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Hill was with friends and had been drinking shots of vodka when he and Towers bumped into each other.

Mr Hill asked: “Why did you push me? Have you got a problem?”
David Povall, prosecuting, said Towers responded aggressively, saying: “We will go outside to settle this.”

Mr Hill tried to calm things, but the 28-year-old father lashed out with his right arm, which was in a cast because of a football injury.

The victim fell to the floor injured. Shortly afterwards, Towers returned and struck him again with the same arm.

“Mr Hill was left bleeding from his nose and mouth and around his left eye and cheek,” said Mr Povall. “His nose was swollen.”

He was taken to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead and needed an operation on his fractured left cheekbone.

The prosecutor said Mr Hill later withdrew his statement to police, saying he wanted to “move on”.

“This was a lashing out loss of temper with most regrettable consequences,” added Mr Povall.

Towers, of Elham Close, Gillingham, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Colin Allan, defending, said the way the incident started was unfortunate. Mr Hill asking Towers if he had a problem, he said, usually meant aggression and “here comes a fight”.

Towers feared he was going to be attacked. Four years ago he was struck from behind with a bottle.

“He accepts he lashed out,” said Mr Allan. “He did more damage than anticipated.”

Towers was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months with 150 hours unpaid work. He was ordered to pay Mr Hill £300 compensation.

Judge Richard Polden said Towers had demonstrated an insight into the impact of his offending.

“More importantly, your risk of re-offending is low,” he said. “I have considered the sentence very carefully.”