Colchester attack: 'Drunken lout' broke man's ankle for his own amusement

Linas Marcinkevicius, 19, was part of a group captured on CCTV in Colchester launching an attack on innocent passer-by Steven Brooks-Dowsett.

Ipswich Crown Court heard footage showed the group of youths had been on the prowl around the town, accosting members of the public in January last year.

After some words were exchanged, Mr Brooks-Dowsett walked away.

The group launched its attack, pushing him to the ground and launching kicks while he lay on the floor.

Mr Brooks-Dowsett suffered a broken ankle, multiple contusions and a concussion.

Read more: 'It was all a game to them' - traumatised victim faces his attacker in court

The court heard on a separate occasion, in March last year, Marcinkevicius was again acting as part of a group accosting passers-by in Colchester town centre.

He participated in a “random, drunken, group attack,” which saw a man struck with a bottle and punched in the face.

The man was chased through the town, with the attack reaching an end when door staff intervened.

Marcinkevicius, of Winnock Road, Colchester, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and affray.

Judge Rupert Overbury called the defendant and his friends “loutish, drunken and thuggish”.

He said: “Young men who engage in drunken violence in public areas and particularly unprovoked violence towards other members of the public, causing serious injuries, cannot ever expect this court to pass anything other than a sentence of immediate custody."

He said Marcinkevicius had carried out the attacks “all because you and your mates thought it was funny.”

“It was for your own amusement,” he said.

“You thought it was a laugh to push people around.”

Marcinkevicius was sentenced to three years and three months in a young offender’s institution.

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