Festival biter gets community service

Friday 28 December 2018

A 22-year-old festival goer who bit another male, knocked one of his teeth out and broke his jaw over a £180 debt has been sentenced to community service and ordered to stay out of trouble to avoid losing "everything he worked hard for".

Young plasterer Elias Campbell Benyoucef appeared in the Magistrate's court yesterday facing one charge of common assault.

Legal Adviser Carla Carvalho told Court that the incident had happened on 7 July at the 'Out There' dance festival in Val de la Mare. The victim owed Benyoucef £180, which he had borrowed while both were on community service.

The Court heard that Benyoucef confronted the victim about the debt at the festival and that a "physical altercation ensued". The victim said Benyoucef started the fight by punching him in the face, knocking one of his teeth out. The pair grappled, and the victim said that, to avoid any other punches, he got Benyoucef in a headlock. While being held, Benyoucef bit the victim twice in the torso. 

Pictured: The assault victim had to receive surgery on his broken jaw.

The victim was treated on the scene by volunteers from St. John Ambulance and then sent to A&E. He suffered a haemorrhage in his lower jaw, which was broken, and had to return to the hospital the following day for surgery. The nurse who treated him in hospital alerted Police to the incident, saying the victim had been punched in the face and bitten.

Benyoucef refused to answer questions when interviewed. However, he admitted being at the festival and assaulting the other man. He told officers that the victim had punched him as he was leaving the toilets and that he wanted to file a formal complaint against him. 

Ms Carvalho told Court that Benyoucef had previously been convicted for violent offences in 2004. 

Defending, Advocate James Bell, said that Benyoucef accepted his actions had been disproportionate, but argued that there had been some provocation from the victim.

Pictured: Advocate James Bell defended Benyoucef.

He said that Benyoucef didn't intend to leave the victim with such severe injuries, adding that  both men knew each other so it wasn't a "stranger attack".

The lawyer reported that Benyoucef had kept out of trouble since the scuffle and was working full-time.

Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris told Benyoucef he had done "an awful lot in a short space of time" and urged him to get to work to turn his life around. "You won't be able to rely on being a young man, you're not a young offender anymore," he warned him. "The prison is where you are going rather than young detention."

He handed him 130 hours' community service, urging Benyoucef to follow the order to avoid going to prison. "If you go to prison everything you worked for will be lost," he added. "You are the one making bad decisions."

He also suggested Benyoucef stop lending money to people on community service.