Ex-grammar schoolboy Riain Richards admits his part in attack
Canterbury Crown Court,
where Riain Richards' case was heard
by Paul Hooper
A former Grammar schoolboy cleared of torturing a cat has
admitted taking part in an attack which left his victim with a
fractured jaw.
Riain Richards had been accused of being the man caught on CCTV
cameras swinging Mowgli, a two-year-old cat, 17 times around his
head.
But the case against him collapsed in June last year when
magistrates ruled Richards had no case to answer.
Now Canterbury Crown Court heard how in August 2011 the
21-year-old business student – with 10 GCSE passes - was involved
in "an ugly and ghastly" incident outside a Kebab shop in
Ramsgate.
There, Richards, from Clements Road, Ramsgate picked a fight
with innocent victim Grant Diviney who had been out with girlfriend
Jasmine Finch celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday.
Prosecutor Ed Fowler told how Ms Finch was ordering food while
her boyfriend was having a cigarette outside the fast food
restaurant.
“A group of men arrived and two in particular started being
aggressive and abusive towards Mr Diviney, who told them to go
away.
“One of the men, not Richards, who was wearing an Adidas
top, started to punch his victim shouting “POW” with every punch, “
he added.
Mr Diviney was knocked to the ground and “just
sensed there was a lot of people joining in, stamping on him and he
just remembered seeing feet, “ the court heard.
Horrified Jasmine took off her stiletto shoe and went to the aid
of the boyfriend - lashing out at Richards.
She was knocked to the floor and kicked by someone wearing a
baby blue top, the court heard.
The two attackers then fled leaving their injured victims on the
ground. Mr Diviney was later taken to hospital and treated for a
fractured jaw and Ms Finch received bruises.
Mr Fowler said Richards was identified after he complained to a
friend the same night how he had been attacked by a woman with a
stiletto shoe.
She was a friend of Jasmine and he was identified through his
photograph on the Internet social networking site Facebook.
Richards was arrested and claimed to have spent the night at his
sister’s house “and had stayed in all night”.
"Your behaviour was appalling. You were drunk and you need to reflect on how unpleasant this was for other people" – Judge O'Mahoney
On the day a trial
was due to start he admitted charges of inflicting grievous bodily
harm and common assault.
Andrew Espley, defending, said the student had gone off the
rails following the death of his mother but had achieved 10 passes
at grades A-C despite being excluded from school.
“This attack was caused because of drink but there is more to
him because he is a bright young man who left school after one year
in the 6th form when he was studying the poets Yeats and
Elliott.
“But he doesn’t want to use the death of his mother as an
excuse, “ he added.
Judge James O’Mahoney gave Richards an 18-month jail sentence
suspended for two years after telling him: “Your behaviour was
appalling. You were drunk and you need to reflect on how unpleasant
this was for other people, who were merely out enjoying
themselves.
“This was an ugly and ghastly incident and if you put another
foot wrong in the next two years you will get that sentence.”
Richards was also ordered to remain at home between 8 pm and
4.30 am for the next four months and do 150 hours of unpaid
work.
The second man involved in the attack has never been
arrested.
- Last year Richards, the son of a building surveyor, went to the
police station after a complaint about animal cruelty. He always
denied being the man pictured on CCTV and the case was eventually
thrown out by magistrates.
22/02/13
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