A judge said it was clear there had been a ‘loss of control and temper’ in the context of a neighbour dispute
A dispute over parking on a residential street ended in violence with a man punched unconscious and a woman beaten with her own crutch as she lay defenceless on the ground, a court has heard. Former sailor Richard David attacked two of his neighbours after losing his temper because they would not move their car.
Swansea Crown Court heard the 54-year-old “believes he has the right” to park outside his house or very near to it, and that he has “greater rights” in parking because he has lived on the street longer than other people.
The court heard the veteran – who has a conviction from a court martial for assault from his time in the Royal Navy – does not accept his guilt. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here
Tom Scapens, prosecuting, told the court that the background to the incident was a dispute about parking on the street where the complainants – Mark Elliot and Nicola Fox – and the defendant lived.
He said there were no parking restrictions in place on the road but the defendant “believes he has the right” to park outside his property or very near to it. The court heard David had been “verbally abusive” about the issue on previous occasions.
The prosecutor said that at around 9.30pm on August 19 last year the defendant knocked on the complainants’ door and asked them to move their car – Mr Elliot told the caller that as he had been to the pub earlier that evening and had a few drinks he could not drive the car. The defendant was told the car would be moved the following morning.
The court heard that an altercation developed on the street with the defendant – a former Royal Navy sailor – essentially arguing that because he had lived on the street longer than Mr Elliott and Miss Fox “he had some sort of greater right” to park there.
David repeated that he wanted the couple’s car moved and began to make comments about them, their family, and their dog.
The court heard that at this point Miss Fox – who was on crutches following a major operation to her leg – came outside to see what the raised voices were about.
The prosecutor said as the couple turned to go back inside their house the defendant punched Mr Elliot to the face causing blood to spurt from his mouth and causing him to fall unconscious to the floor. Fearing she was also about to be attacked, Miss Fox waved a crutch at the defendant who responded by grabbing the mobility aid causing his second victim to go to the floor.
The prosecutor said David then began beating the unconscious Mr Elliot with the crutch as he lay defenceless on the ground, striking the stricken man “multiple times”. The defendant then hit Miss Fox with her own crutch. The court heard that such was the force being used by the defendant that the crutch ended up “deformed”.
Neighbours on the Cwmavon street rushed outside to help the couple, the defendant returned to his own property, and the police were called.
The prosecutor said that when Mr Elliot regained consciousness he went to David’s door and began “barging” it, and he said it would be fair to say that there was an “ongoing scene” in the street.
Police arrived at around 10pm and arrested the defendant. In his subsequent interview he claimed Mr Elliot had been “abusive and intoxicated” and had, in fact, fallen over.
The court heard that Mr Elliot suffered a cut to his inner lip and bruising to his face and back. Miss Fox suffered “extensive bruising” to her chest.
In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, Mr Elliot said he had been hit with a “sucker punch” from behind in an unprovoked assault which had knocked him out. He said the defendant had then assaulted his partner but he had been unable to protect her, a fact which was humiliating and which had “taken something from me which I am not sure I will get back”. He said the assault had changed “every part of my life”, and said it has had long term emotional and psychological impacts.
In her statement Miss Fox said she had been defenceless on the floor and unable to escape as David struck her with the crutch, and she said the experience had left her “a nervous wreck” and “emotionally shattered”, and suffering with nightmares.
Richard David, now of Gerbera Way, Cullompton, Devon, had previously been convicted at trial at magistrates court of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has two previous convictions for two offences – a driving with excess alcohol, and a common assault which was dealt with by a Naval court martial and for which the defendant received a sentence of 42 days detention.
Andrew Evans, for David, said the defendant accepts there had been a “confrontation” on the day in question but does not accept the prosecution case, though he said his client understands he is going to sentenced in accordance with the finding of the district judge at trial.
The advocate said David served in the Royal Navy from 1997 to 2024 before finding work as a service engineer and said he lives in south west England with his partner. He invited the court to find that the circumstances of the offending were unlikely to arise again, and he invited the court to pass a sentence which was not one of immediate custody.
Judge Catherine Richards said it was clear there had been a “loss of control and temper” in the context of a neighbour dispute. She said the contents of the pre-sentence report taken with the sentencing guidelines meant she was satisfied that the defendant could be managed in the community.
David was sentenced to 30 months in prison suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to pay each of his victims £1,500 in compensation. The judge said the compensation orders were not intended to reflect the full impact of the offending and said it was open to the complainants to pursue compensation though other means.
The defendant was made subject to restraining orders banning him from contacting his victims for five years.
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