Royal court jails men for “sustained and savage” attack

Friday 05 August 2016

Two men have been handed prison sentences for what was described in court as a "sustained and savage" attack, which prompted the victim to call out, "...you're killing me," and left him unconscious.

Liam Francis Le Clercq (26) was given four years for assault, grave and criminal assault, and robbery in the Royal Court today, and Cheyne Dennis Mildren (25) was sentenced to three years for his part in the apparently unprovoked attack.

The court heard that in the early hours of the 28th November last year Le Clercq punched a man at Snow Hill, and together with Mildren was caught on CCTV chasing the man through town. The man later got away.

Then together with others, Le Clercq and Mildren caught a taxi to St Brelade. But, when the other people in the taxi changed their minds about inviting the two men to a party, they got out of the taxi at Red Houses. It was then that the pair saw a man walking home after a night out, followed him down a dark alley and attacked him.

Le Clercq kicked him to the head, and Mildren to the body. The kicks were so violent the man’s false teeth came out, and he started shouting “you’re killing me." Although the men then walked away, Le Clercq returned to attack him again until Mildren called him off.

The attacked man was robbed, and left unconscious. The next he remembers was coming round in an ambulance.

Prosecuting, Crown Advocate Mike Preston told the court: “This was an unprovoked and serious assault by two men fuelled by alcohol upon a defenceless victim. It was committed in the dark and from behind. It is difficult to conceive of a more cowardly attack and the defendants should be ashamed of themselves. The public should be protected from behaviour of this sort and the court is encouraged to include in its deliberations an element of deterrence.”


Sentencing Le Clercq the Bailiff said “You really didn’t care about him at all when you walked away… You have shown no remorse. You have not said sorry.” He was given four years for assault, grave and criminal assault, and robbery. Mildren's three year sentence was shorter because he hadn’t been involved in the first attack, and because he’d kicked the man to the body, not the head, and had attempted to call Le Clercq off.

The Bailiff said it was standard practice to send offenders to prison if they’d been involved “in a drunken grave and criminal assault in town at night.”