Ex-Gurkha's son Dipendra Sahi ignored orders to do community service
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by Paul Hooper
A former Gurkha officer sat in
court as his son explained why he had ignored orders to do
community work.
He had flown over from Nepal to watch
his son Dipendra Sahi be re-sentenced for what a judge at
Canterbury Crown Court called "a cowardly attack".
Sahi, 23, of Cheriton High
Street, Folkestone had admitted being one of four men who had
beaten a pub landlord with belts in February last year.
At his sentencing hearing last year,
he was given 200 hours of unpaid work to do for the community as
punishment for the assault - after a judge told him he he had
shamed his father's name.
But the court heard he had TWICE
failed to turn up to do the work - claiming that on one occasion he
had overslept - and had completed just 28 hours of community
work.
As Mr Sahi senior - a former British
Army Officer with the Ghurka regiment and now an army welfare
officer - watched from the public gallery, the judge ordered that
CCTV footage of the beating be shown to the court.
Judge Simon James then told Sahi - who
had admitted breaches of the community order: "You and your friends
were involved in a cowardly attack - where you and at least three
others attacked a man, who you punched, kicked and beat with
leather belts.
"Buck up your ideas, stay out of trouble - or you will go back to prison…” – Judge Simon James
"You used extreme violence, an attack
which involved the use of weapons."
He gave him a 34-week jail sentence,
suspended for two years, and told him he had to do another 200
hours of unpaid work for the community.
Judge James added: "At the
original hearing you were given a chance... one that you were
unable to take. But I accept that your failure to comply with the
orders was born out of stupidity and immaturity rather than any
deep seated mind set."
He said Sahi had already spent two
weeks in jail "contemplating the consequences should you continue
to display the arrogance and contempt that you have displayed
towards the court".
The judge then gave the youngster a
dressing down, telling him: "Buck up your ideas, stay out of
trouble - or you will go back to prison."
Donna East, prosecuting, had earlier
told how police had been called to a fight outside the View Public
House in West Terrace.
"Mr Steven Bains, the owner of the
public house, was inside cashing up. He heard a loud crash and he
went to investigate.
"He saw a broken sign and asked them
what had happened and was attacked. Fortunately he wasn't seriously
hurt," she added.
Sahi claimed the four had downed two
bottles of vodka and a bottle of whisky before the attack.
Wednesday, February 08 2012
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