Two jailed after Suffolk attack

TWO men have been jailed after carrying out a vicious golf club attack on a man in a Suffolk town.

Lee Upson and Dylan Woods were sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court for their roles in an unprovoked attack outside a Hadleigh pub.

The court heard Andrew Martin was left looking as if his ear was hanging off after he was hit on the head with a golf club.

He had been walking home through Hadleigh after a night out in Ipswich when he was attacked close to the Eight Bells pub.

Woods, 24, of Angel Street, Hadleigh, was given a two-year custodial sentence, while Upson, 29, of Clopton Gardens, Hadleigh, received a 21 month jail term both for the incident on October 19.

At an earlier hearing at Ipswich Crown Court Charles Kellett, prosecuting, said a group of three men and a woman near the Eight Bells pub saw Mr Martin walking home and one of them asked him if he was alright, to which he raised his arm in acknowledgement and walked on.

Mr Martin then felt a shove on his right-hand side which had caused him to fall over. When he picked himself up he heard someone say “sorry”, which he ignored this and carried on walking.

Mr Kellett said he then felt a blow to the left side of his head near his ear.

A witness described seeing Upson pick up a golf club and hand it to Woods who hit Mr Martin on the side of the head with it.

A doctor's examination of Mr Martin showed four cuts on his head, three of which needed stitches.

Upson and Woods denied assaulting Mr Martin, causing him actual bodily harm but were found guilty at the conclusion to their trial. The defendants chose not to give evidence.