“When you drink, sense goes out of the window”

Thursday 09 February 2017

A nineteen-year-old man has been sentenced to 160 hours community service for a grave and criminal assault which left two people injured.

The Magistrate's Court accepted that Kane Ulrich Le Gros had turned his life around, and opted not to put him in prison.

The Court heard how after visiting several licensed premises in the Snow Hill area with his friends late last year, Le Gros crossed paths with two brothers who he claimed made obscene gestures and a racist comment.

It was claimed that Le Gros then attacked the pair - he said he didn't intend any harm, only to chase the men away.

The prosecution alleged one of the two brothers received a number of cuts and bruises to the face as a result of being pushed into a wall, and punched, while the other visited hospital the next day, where doctors confirmed he had a fractured jaw. 

When the Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris asked Le Gros what his reaction would have been had he been sober, Le Gros replied “It wouldn’t have happened.”

“When you drink, sense goes out of the window,” warned Mr Harris. 

The defence highlighted Le Gros’ difficult childhood and past problem of associating with the wrong type of people, but that in recent years he had made serious efforts to change his ways, with the assistance of his fiancée and her family.

“This event is so serious that a non-custodial sentence seems inappropriate,” Mr Harris, told the defendant. He went on to say that he does not feel, however, that Le Gros is a risk to the public, but spoke about the severity of Le Gros’ actions, “You’ve put everything at risk – your apprenticeship, your relationship.”

“He is still only nineteen; he has accepted that his reaction was unacceptable,” Advocate Turnbull, defending, told the court. “We’re asking for a final chance.”

The court heard that Le Gros and his fiancée had put off their wedding in order to pay any potential compensation costs, and that Le Gros was prepared to pay £150 a week in order to clear the matter swiftly.   

Mr Harris adjourned from the court for a time in order to consider the case.

“Perhaps it’s an over-used expression in many cases, but you really do seem to have turned your life around,” Mr Harris told the defendant on his return. 

Mr Harris sentenced Le Gros to 160 hours community service in lieu of a custodial sentence, and ordered him to pay £500 compensation to each victim. 

“The facts agree that there was some preliminary behaviour for which you cannot be criticised, but you then responded in a wholly inappropriate way,” Mr Harris told the defendant, “Your response must not be violence.”