More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A martial arts expert was left soaked in blood after he fought off lump-hammer wielding burglars with his bare hands.
The “demonic” hooligans raided Robert Pope’s Broadstairs home demanding drugs and money while smashing him over the head with the weapon.
But Mr Pope’s martial artist friend, Anthony Gidman, disarmed Patrick O’Brien, 33, then turned on him with the hammer, before delivering a knee blow to the crook’s head.
O’Brien and accomplice Oliver Barnes, 30, who even tried subduing Mr Gidman by stamping on his neck, then fled the bloodbath in St Georges Road.
Mr Gidman suffered a wound to his forehead requiring 15 stitches - he was left soaked in blood with bruising over his body.
Mr Gidman, who was raised training under Thai-military fighters since age-six, told a court:
“It was such a surreal thing to happen, I’ve never seen anyone attacked with a hammer, I’ve never been attacked by a hammer.
“Instinct kicked in and I got to my feet.
“I can’t remember how many hammer blows came at me but they were heavy. I had to shield them.
“I managed to get the hammer from him and delivered a knee blow.
“There was a lot of blood in the room eventually.”
Mr Gidman told Canterbury Crown Court he hit O’Brien to the side of the head, prompting both crooks to attack him.
“A multitude of strikes came in, punches and kicks, I went into a guard position.
“The second man did a huge stomp and it landed on my neck area, on my throat.
“He was choking my windpipe out while the other guy was taking the hammer out of my hand.”
When prosecutor Andrew Hallworth asked where O’Brien focussed the blow, Mr Gidman replied: “On my forehead, where I had 15 stitches and my bone was showing.
“I’ve not been in a situation where someone is trying to take my head off with a hammer.
“He was choking my windpipe out while the other guy was taking the hammer out of my hand...”
“There were more demands (for drugs and money), I couldn’t speak, I was being strangled.
“I remember him trying to get my knee-cap IRA style.”
But Buddhist Mr Gidman told how he fought off the duo after summoning a religious inner-strength.
“What I remember these torturers doing to me was obscene.
“As soon as they left I heard smashing. The whole place was full of blood, my blood, that O’Brien’s blood.
“I don’t want anyone else to suffer these two demons.”
The duo continued on a drink-fuelled rampage, trying to kick down the door of a home at Belvedere Road then ransacking a property in Spuro Court on the afternoon of April 18, last year.
O'Brien, of Thanet Road, Broadstairs, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, aggravated burglary, burglary and attempted burglary on the day of trial.
Barnes, of Pennington Close in Westbere, Canterbury, denied the same charges but a jury unanimously found him guilty after three hours of deliberations following his trial in December.
Brian Reece, for O’Brien, said his client had lived a “feckless lifestyle” living hand-to-mouth while battling drug addiction.
"The whole place was full of blood, my blood, that O’Brien’s blood..."
“He does tell me he is a religious man and prays every day for the full recovery of Mr Gidman.
He is not just sorry for what he did he is ashamed of what he did,” he added.
Alexia Power, for Barnes, highlighted her client was of previous good character, hard working, caring and reliable.
She said Barnes was struggling with undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, anxiety and depression at the time of the offences.
She argued he was distressed following a relationship breakdown which contributed to a “perfect storm” of “out of character” behaviour.
Yesterday, O’Brien was jailed for 10 years and Barnes for nine years.
Judge Simon James dubbed the attack “joint, premeditated and sustained.”
“The offences, both individual and cumulative, are so serious only a period of immediate custody is justified,” he said.
For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.
