Hull Daily Mail

Thug locked up for punch on stranger that caused him to lose three teeth

VICTIM WOKE UP ON PAVEMENT SURROUNDED BY BLOOD

AN aggressive thug with a history of violence viciously punched a man in the head from behind in a nasty unprovoked street attack that caused the victim to fall heavily on the pavement and lose three teeth.

The victim was left on the ground with a lot of blood “surroundin­g” him and he suffered serious consequenc­es, including not being able to smile for about three weeks. He could not speak without the help of false teeth that were eventually made for him after a long wait, a court heard.

Michael Anson, 36, of Caledon Close, off Holderness Road, east Hull, denied assaulting the man, causing actual bodily harm, on November 11, 2022, but he was convicted after a trial before Beverley magistrate­s. He had been committed for sentence to Hull Crown Court.

Oliver Shipley, prosecutin­g, said the man was walking down Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, towards the city centre when he heard someone shouting towards him. He turned and saw two men, who were not familiar to him.

“He thought that they were talking to each other,” said Mr Shipley. “He continued on his way.” The next thing the man remembered was waking up on the pavement with a member of the public kneeling over him and telling him that an ambulance was on its way.

The victim noticed blood around him on the ground. A woman on the scene had been walking towards the man when she saw Anson walk towards him at speed and punch him to the back of his head.

The victim fell straight to the ground. “His face took the entire impact on the concrete slab,” said Mr Shipley. The woman phoned for an ambulance and waited with the victim. Some of his teeth had been knocked out and were on the floor.

“Significan­t amounts of blood were on the pavement,” said Mr Shipley. Anson ran off towards the city centre after the attack. He was later arrested, with the help of CCTV pictures and his distinctiv­e appearance, but he denied assaulting anyone. He claimed that he could not remember his whereabout­s on that day.

When Anson was shown CCTV footage, he claimed that he might have been frightened at the time. “He continued to deny any involvemen­t and sought to distance himself from the allegation­s,” added Mr Shipley.

“This was an unprovoked, vicious attack from behind, which has resulted in serious injuries.” The victim lost three teeth as a result of the assault. “He could not smile for around three weeks following the incident,” said Mr Shipley. He suffered a mixture of discomfort and paranoia about his appearance.

The assault affected his speech and, without dentures, which he now had, he could not speak. “There was a waiting list for dentures,” said Mr Shipley.

“Moulds were taken. He had repeated appointmen­ts, thankfully on the NHS. It was four or five months of having to suffer the effects before he felt comfortabl­e again.”

The victim later said that, at the time of the assault, he had been significan­tly affected by it. He felt that he could not leave his home because of the problems caused.

“I had to have time off work to recover from my injuries,” he said. “I did not feel mentally strong enough to go back to work. It has taken its toll on me.

“I can’t understand why someone I do not know would assault me like this. No one has the right to do this.”

Anson had conviction­s for 14 previous offences, including assault in 2011 and assaulting police in 2012 and 2020 as well as threatenin­g behaviour and driving while disqualifi­ed.

He represente­d himself in court and, when asked what he wanted to say, he showed no remorse and, instead, made a series of allegation­s against the victim.

He continued to deny that he carried out the attack and tried to cast blame on someone else at the scene. “Did the other person do this?” he asked. “I have no idea.”

Anson claimed of the victim: “I have never actually seen him until I went to court the first time. I am only here to tell the truth.” He claimed the witnesses all knew each other.

“I understand that I have been charged for the offence and I will have to take the consequenc­es,” said Anson. “There is nothing more I can do but tell the truth.”

Judge Tahir Khan KC said: “You were convicted after a trial. I gave you the opportunit­y of saying something in mitigation, expressing some regret for what you did, but all you could do was to tarnish the character of the victim and make allegation­s against him that I wholly reject.”

Anson, who had been on bail, was jailed for two years.