A MAN who took part in a late night attack which left his victim with life threatening injuries has been jailed for nine years.

Jane Hunt

A MAN who took part in a late night attack which left his victim with life threatening injuries has been jailed for nine years.

Sentencing 22-year-old Thomas Crowley a judge said that at the very least he had stamped once on Jonathan Field's head and had very possibly kicked him more than once as well.

Judge Peter De Mille said Mr Field, who was in court yesterday to see Crowley sentenced, had been in a coma for two weeks following the attack and paramedics who attended the scene had feared he would not survive.

Crowley, of Shackleton Road, Ipswich, denied wounding Mr Field with intent to cause him grievous harm but was found guilty by a jury following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court two months ago.

A second defendant, Kieron Lambe, 18, of Beatty Road, had also denied the charge and was cleared by the jury.

Jailing Crowley for nine years Judge De Mille said the only thing that could be said in his favour was that he was not responsible for initially “felling” Mr Field to the ground.

During the trial the court heard that Mr Field was attacked in Shackleton Road, Ipswich, on October 6 last year after leaving the Haven pub.

Mr Field - who declined to comment after the sentencing - suffered multiple fractures to his face and head injuries and spent several weeks in hospital recovering.

Also before the court yesterday was Leon Neal, 27, of Kings Way, Ipswich, who was charged jointly with Crowley of being involved in an attack on a man called Kevin Brewer in July last year.

Both Neal and Crowley pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Brewer causing him actual bodily harm and while Crowley was given a 12 month prison sentence to run concurrently with the nine year sentence, Neal was given a 50 week jail term suspended for two years.

Neal was also made the subject of a three month curfew order, ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work in the community and told to pay £500 compensation to Mr Brewer.

Andrew Shaw, prosecuting, said that Crowley, Neal and another man had attacked Mr Brewer after shouting abuse at him and had then kicked and punched him while he was on the ground.

As a result of the attack Mr Brewer, who works in the security industry and was wearing a stab-proof vest, suffered cuts to his face and head and bruising to his torso.

Simon Spence, for Crowley, said his client had expressed a general feeling of hostility towards Mr Field in the past but had not pre-meditated the attack on him.

He said the two men had both been in the Haven pub prior to the attack and there had not been any animosity between them that night.

Mr Spence said although fortunately Mr Field had made a full recovery he had to concede that at the time of the attack his injuries had been life threatening.