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Thug jailed for vicious attack

Scales of justice
Scales of justice

by Keith Hunt

A thug who launched a vicious unprovoked attack on a man and caused serious damage to his eye has been jailed for 12 years.

Spencer Harbard punched Clive Heathcote to the ground and then kicked him in the face.

A horrified witness later told police he saw 30-year-old Harbard stamping on the victim’s head.

He afterwards tried to “do a deal” with Mr Heathcote’s family, asking them not to implicate him in the assault.

Harbard, then living at Gravesend Road, Strood, now of Ashford, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and perverting the course of justice.

Maidstone Crown Court heard both men were at the Inn on the Lake hotel in Shorne on November 5 last year.

They went out into the car and had a conversation for about 10 minutes before Harbard attacked Mr Heathcote.

One witness said he saw the victim walking away when Harbard lunged at him. Mr Heathcote, he said, collapsed to the ground “like a sack of potatoes”.

He tried to get up but before he could do so, Harbard kicked him in the face.

Mr Heathcote tried to cover his face but Harbard stamped on it more than once with the heal of his shoe, said the witness.

Prosecutor Anne Phillips said Harbard left the scene and did not give himself up until November 22.

Mr Heathcote was taken to Darent Valley Hospital and then transferred to Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup for surgery to his right eye.

He was left with reduced vision and the prognosis was guarded. He was unsteady on his feet and suffered headaches.

Mrs Phillips said Harbard in the meantime admitted to a friend: “I think I am in the s---. I don’t know what to do.”

He then made repeated efforts to do a deal with the victim, offering him money and trying to get him to sign a letter saying he was not involved.

Judge Michael Carroll said: “Kicking a defenceless man on the ground full force in the face is about as serious as it gets.”

Harbard was jailed for 11 years three months for the assault and nine months consecutive for perverting the course of justice.

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