Wolverhampton thugs jailed after beating friend unconscious over debt

Patrick Lane, Daniel Rotchelle and Damon Stuart joined together in their plot to beat Keanu Hawker so they could get hold of cash he allegedly owed.

The three denied causing grievous bodily harm to their victim but were convicted after trial. They were each sentenced to five-year jail terms.

Sentencing, Recorder Geoffrey Pryce said: “This was an extremely nasty offence, it’s a serious offence.

“Once the victim had been punched to the ground, he was then kicked.

“But then when Mr Hawker was prone and unconscious on the floor, you gratuitously stamped on his head.

He added: “There was no aggression being shown to you at that point. It was purely gratuitous.”

The recorder went on to say Lane wanted to enforce a debt he thought was owed to him or someone else.

Lane, of Perry Avenue, Low Hill, then recruited friends Rotchelle and Stuart to join him, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The court heard how the serious assault in Wolverhampton had left Mr Hawker unable to trust people after his three friends turned on him in September.

In a statement read to the court, he said: “I find it upsetting and embarrassing. I have a large scar to my left eyebrow.

“It makes me sad that whenever I see it, it will remind me of them attacking me.

“This has made my family worried and scared.”

Mr John Evans, defending Lane, said the 22-year-old wanted to apologise to his victim but bail conditions prevented him from contacting Mr Hawker.

The attack at YMCA’s Cannock Road base was ‘out of character’ for the father, Mr Evans claimed.

Rotchelle, 23, of Low Hill Crescent, Low Hill, has stayed out of trouble since the assault and is now motivated by his family, defence barrister Mr Graeme Logan told the court. said.

Mr Colin McCarraher, defending Stuart, of Chadwick Close, Wolverhampton, added the 22-year-old has ‘turned a corner’ since his offending and wished he had not got involved in the attack.