Community service for fight which caused fractured skull

Saturday 30 September 2017

A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to 210 hours community service by the Royal Court after he got into a fight with a 47-year-old man in September 2015, which left the victim with a fractured skull.

Wayne Batiste punched the victim in the head with both fists after the man tried to intervene in an argument between Batiste and his girlfriend.

The court heard that the incident took place in the early hours of 13 September 2015 in Ann Street, at the side of Liberation Court. The victim, who was on his way home after celebrating a friend's 50th birthday, approached Batiste and his girlfriend as they were arguing. The couple had been out drinking and were both heavily intoxicated. CCTV footage shows them arguing from Chambers Bar to La Motte Street. As the victim shouted at Batiste to leave the woman alone, Batiste approached him and punched him to the head with both fists, before grabbing him. A scuffle ensued and both men swung around and then fell heavily on the floor. Batiste then ran from the scene while the victim lay unconscious in the road.

Crown Advocate Chris Baglin, who was prosecuting, told the Court that after coming round, the victim got 'unsteadily' to his feet and was soon picked up by an ambulance which had been called by witnesses. He had bruises and abrasions on his face, ears and neck as well as on his left arm, chest and left hip. He also had a wound on his knee and complained of muffled hearing in his right ear. Most notably, a head scan revealed a fractured skull. 

The Crown Advocate said there had been no provocation from the victim who had "merely shouted at the defendant to stop arguing with his girlfriend." He also said the incident had caused emotional and physical trauma to the victim, with some effects lasting even two years after. He recommended 15 months' imprisonment.

Batiste's advocate, Jeremy Heywood, urged the court to consider a community service order in view of the "very powerful personal mitigation" available to his client. He said that Batiste had not deliberately taken the victim to the ground but that they both fell as they were scuffling. He added that Batiste's actions that night were "absolutely out of character" and that references spoke of a hard-working man, dedicated to his family and always willing to help. He also told the Court that Batiste had voluntarily stopped drinking alcohol and hadn’t had a drop since the incident, calling it the "responsible action of a man who understands he has done wrong."

Handing down the sentence, Royal Court Commissioner Julian Clyde-Smith, who sat with Jurats Pamela Pitman and Charles Blampied, said that people who get involved in drunken fights should expect a custodial sentence. He added that Batiste's blows did not put the victim to the ground and that his most serious injury was likely caused by his fall. "The custody threshold is passed but in light of all the elements before us we consider that a direct alternative to custody is appropriate. Community service is not a soft option, something the public does not always understand," he said.

Batiste was subsequently sentenced to 210 hours of community service, equivalent to 13 months in prison.