Walsall man takes revenge after being attacked while standing up for girl

Matthew Smith was knocked to the ground and twice kicked in the head after being surrounded by a group of people in Walsall town centre, a judge was told.

He ran into trouble after stepping in to protect a girl he knew and feared was receiving unwanted attention from another man in the street in the early hours, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

The attack left Smith - who admitted to difficulty in controlling his temper - with two black eyes and a cut head, together with a thirst for revenge after the group, which included his attacker, split up and started taking taxis home soon afterwards. Ryan Jones and Luke Macken were among those who remained.

Smith then targeted both, beating them up in separate attacks that happened in quick succession close to the scene of the original incident in at around 3.20am on November 13 last year.

"Both men were punched to the ground and then kicked in the street," explained Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting who continued: "The problem first arose when Jones was talking to a girl that both he and Smith knew.

"He was trying it on with her although not in a physical way and Smith intervened, quickly becoming involved in a dispute with three men before being punched to the floor and kicked. They were all drunk."

Jones had two teeth knocked out and Macken received a cut to the back of his head after Smith hit back, the court was told. They identified their attacker to police after recognising him as all three men sought treatment at hospital.

Mr Scott Coughtrie, defending, said: "He has anger issue stemming from the loss of his father eight years ago. It made him very protective of his mother and females in general. He felt that the girl he knows was being approached in an inappropriate manner and intervened.

"He then believed that the two men he assaulted had been involved in the earlier assault on himself but is sickened by his subsequent behaviour. He has put his whole future in jeopardy by this stupidity that involved young men full of alcohol."

Smith from Hardy Road, Walsall and of previous good character admitted two assaults and was given 12 months detention suspended for two years with a six month night time curfew, 200 hours unpaid work and a total of £1500 compensation to the two victims.

Recorder Geoffrey Kelly told him: "You had been involved in some form of violence and could not leave it alone. You went back twice to assault these men. It was the sort of behaviour people should be protected against."