Woodbridge/Wickham Market: Victim left black and blue after ‘vigilante’ attack

A MAN who unleashed a “vigilante attack” on a shop worker leaving him “black and blue” has been jailed for 12 months.

Christopher Barmby repeatedly punched Alastair Brown in a shop at the Orchard campsite at Wickham Market after being told that Mr Brown had allegedly upset a child in his group, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Barmby, 46, confronted Mr Brown in the campsite shop where he was working. But when Mr Brown denied upsetting the child Barmby lost his temper and attacked him.

An off-duty policeman saw what was happening and intervened and as a result of the incident Mr Brown suffered a cut above his eye and bruising to his face and back, Robert Sadd, prosecuting, said.

Barmby, of Deben Court, Woodbridge, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage on October 13 and was jailed for 12 months.

Sentencing him Judge Rupert Overbury described what he had done as a “vigilante attack” and said: “Anyone who takes the law into their own hands and exacts retribution on someone they believe is responsible for a criminal offence cannot expect any sympathy from the criminal justice system.”

He said Barmby had carried out a sustained attack on Mr Brown and had left him “black and blue”.

Mr Sadd told the court that during the incident a printer worth �700 had been damaged. He said a formal complaint had been made against Mr Brown in relation to the incident involving the child in Barmby’s group but Mr Brown had not been prosecuted.

Roger Thomson, for Barmby, said he had “flipped” during the confrontation with Mr Brown and had made full admissions about what he had done to police. “He knows that what he did was wrong and knows it wasn’t the right way to deal with matters,” said Mr Thomson.