Canterbury Crown Court, where Riain Richards' case was heard

by Paul Hooper

A former Grammar schoolboy cleared of torturing a cat has admitted taking part in an attack which left his victim with a fractured jaw.

Riain Richards had been accused of being the man caught on CCTV cameras swinging Mowgli, a two-year-old cat, 17 times around his head.

But the case against him collapsed in June last year when magistrates ruled Richards had no case to answer.

Now Canterbury Crown Court heard how in August 2011 the 21-year-old business student – with 10 GCSE passes - was involved in "an ugly and ghastly" incident outside a Kebab shop in Ramsgate.

There, Richards, from Clements Road, Ramsgate picked a fight with innocent victim Grant Diviney who had been out with girlfriend Jasmine Finch celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday.

Prosecutor Ed Fowler told how Ms Finch was ordering food while her boyfriend was having a cigarette outside the fast food restaurant.

“A group of men arrived and two in particular started being aggressive and abusive towards Mr Diviney, who told them to go away.

“One of the men, not Richards, who was wearing an Adidas top, started to punch his victim shouting “POW” with every punch, “ he added.

Mr Diviney was knocked to the ground and “just sensed there was a lot of people joining in, stamping on him and he just remembered seeing feet, “ the court heard.

Horrified Jasmine took off her stiletto shoe and went to the aid of the boyfriend - lashing out at Richards.

She was knocked to the floor and kicked by someone wearing a baby blue top, the court heard.

The two attackers then fled leaving their injured victims on the ground. Mr Diviney was later taken to hospital and treated for a fractured jaw and Ms Finch received bruises.

Mr Fowler said Richards was identified after he complained to a friend the same night how he had been attacked by a woman with a stiletto shoe.

She was a friend of Jasmine and he was identified through his photograph on the Internet social networking site Facebook.

Richards was arrested and claimed to have spent the night at his sister’s house “and had stayed in all night”.

"your behaviour was appalling. you were drunk and you need to reflect on how unpleasant this was for other people" – judge o'mahoney

On the day a trial was due to start he admitted charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and common assault.

Andrew Espley, defending, said the student had gone off the rails following the death of his mother but had achieved 10 passes at grades A-C despite being excluded from school.

“This attack was caused because of drink but there is more to him because he is a bright young man who left school after one year in the 6th form when he was studying the poets Yeats and Elliott.

“But he doesn’t want to use the death of his mother as an excuse, “ he added.

Judge James O’Mahoney gave Richards an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years after telling him: “Your behaviour was appalling. You were drunk and you need to reflect on how unpleasant this was for other people, who were merely out enjoying themselves.

“This was an ugly and ghastly incident and if you put another foot wrong in the next two years you will get that sentence.”

Richards was also ordered to remain at home between 8 pm and 4.30 am for the next four months and do 150 hours of unpaid work.

The second man involved in the attack has never been arrested.

• Last year Richards, the son of a building surveyor, went to the police station after a complaint about animal cruelty. He always denied being the man pictured on CCTV and the case was eventually thrown out by magistrates.