Jail After Man Left With Life Changing Injuries

19 December 2012, 15:24 | Updated: 19 December 2012, 15:35

A man's been jailed for 8 and a half years after hitting another man with a plank of wood leaving him with life-changing injuries on a night out in Norwich...

CCTV footage released today (Wednesday 19 December 2012) captures a moment of violence in Norwich city centre which left one man with life-changing injuries and another facing an eight and a half years jail term.

After a night out drinking, 30-year-old Keiron Hayden used a plank of wood to launch a brutal and unprovoked assault on another man as he walked along Prince of Wales Road.

The attack left his 20 year old victim in intensive care for a week and scarred for life – left partially deaf, with a visual impairment and broken nose.

Hayden, of  Court Farm Avenue, Epsom, Surrey, was today (Wednesday, December 19) jailed at Norwich Crown Court having pleaded guilty at the start of his trial to causing grievous bodily harm with intent on Sunday 3 April 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z4hx1L2mSzY

Norwich Policing Commander Superintendent Paul Sanford said the sentence should serve as a warning for people who visit the city that violence will not be tolerated in the night time economy.

"Sadly this case demonstrates the extreme levels of violence regularly seen by officers on Prince of Wales Road and the necessity to reduce the early-morning availability of alcohol which often fuels such mindless attacks.

"Thousands of people will be heading to the city this weekend and next to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. I hope this case serves as a timely reminder about the damaging consequences that consuming excessive amounts of alcohol can have."

Hayden launched the attack as he walked in a group with his victim towards Norwich Railway Station at 4.20am on Sunday 3 April last year, after the men had been for a night out in Norwich.  For reasons only known to himself, Hayden struck the victim forcefully round the head with a piece of wood in a baseball bat motion and then hit him twice more after he fell to the floor.  When Hayden had finished the attack he ran from the scene and returned to his home in Surrey.