Jake Batey, 20, has been jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to bashing a doctor on Hedges Avenue
A MAN will spend nine months behind bars after pleading guilty to bashing and kicking a high-profile doctor in the head outside his Hedges Ave home.
Crime and Court
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A MAN will spend nine months behind bars after pleading guilty to bashing and kicking a high-profile doctor in the head outside his Hedges Ave home.
Jake Batey, 20, pleaded guilty to charges of grievous bodily harm and burglary and steal in the Southport District Court this morning.
Campbell Walker, 20, and Jye Vickery, 20, pleaded guilty to burglary and steal and assault occasioning bodily harm in company.
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The court heard that in May 2012 the three men were part of a rowdy mob who descended on Hedges Avenue then starting causing damage to a fence.
Dr Thomas Challenger, the founder of MedCall and a resident of the street, went outside but rushed back in after Batey threatened to bash him.
Two of the men followed him into the unlocked home and stole a pair of his shoes, then the doctor chased them outside and was set upon by the mob.
Dr Challenger was punched repeatedly in a group attack, then was finally kicked to the head by Batey, who had encouraged the others to take part.
He suffered from a facial fracture and was forced to take three months off work.
Judge Julie Dick said that courts had to show that gratuitous violence would not be accepted in the community.
She sentenced Batey to a three-year sentence to be released on parole on Christmas Eve this year.
Walker and Vickery were sentenced to nine months imprisonment to be suspended immediately.
Barrister Chris Rosser, who represented Batey and Walker, said they had been drinking at the time but called it a “very nasty attack on an innocent homeowner”.
Mr Rosser said Batey, now 20, could not remember the incident and was unable to agree or disagree with the crown’s version of events.
“He was quite intoxicated at the time,” he said.
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