A VICTIM of a horrifying assault in Hadleigh has today spoken about how the incident motivated him to raise money for an anti-violence campaign.

A VICTIM of a horrifying assault in Hadleigh has today spoken about how the incident motivated him to raise money for an anti-violence campaign.

Two men were yesterday jailed after carrying out a vicious golf club attack on 24-year-old Andrew Martin last October.

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

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.

Following the sentencing Mr Martin, a DJ with Ipswich Community Radio, said the incident motivated him to work towards preventing violence.

He said: “I have long hair and was wearing a heavy metal t-shirt and I feel that may have had something to do with the attack.

“It made me think of the murder of Sophie Lancaster in Lancashire and I organised charity gig in Ipswich back in April that raised around £450.

“I'm looking to organise another one to raise more money.

“I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and it upset me but things happen - you just don't expect them to happen to you.

“I'm not going to let people like that drag me down.”

Sophie Lancaster was brutally attacked along with her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, while walking through a park in Rossendale, Lancashire.

As a result of her severe head injuries she went into a coma, never regained consciousness, and later died.

Police said the attack may have been provoked by the couple wearing gothic fashion and being members of the goth subculture.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Sophie Lancaster fund can visit www.sophielancasterfoundation.com.

n. Have you been the victim of a violent attack? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

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

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 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.