A FATHER stood up in a Derby court to plead with a judge not to jail his son for a violent attack.
Peter Davis took to the witness box at Derby Crown Court to urge Judge John Burgess to suspend a sentence he was about to impose on 21-year-old Matthew Davis.
He explained to the judge that if his son was put behind bars immediately he would lose his job maintaining locomotives.
Davis, of Doris Road, Ilkeston, attacked the man while he was drunk at midnight on June 8.
Alex Wolfson, prosecuting, said the victim tried to break up an argument Davis was having with his girlfriend in Havelock Street, in the town.
Mr Wolfson said: "The victim was punched to the right side of the face and ended up on the floor where the defendant continued to punch and kick him.
"He received a number of cuts and bruises in the assault."
Mr Davis Snr told the court: "I cannot put into words how embarrassed we are as a family and how shameful what Matthew did is to us.
"He is a good lad, he's bright, intelligent, honest and trustworthy and the past nine to 12 months I have seen a dramatic improvement in him until this one incident where he broke the law.
"He has brought himself away from the crowd he was with before, has stopped gambling and stopped taking drugs."
Mr Wolfson said: "One witness told the police how the defendant 'kicked him like a football' while another described how he saw the defendant stamp on his head."
Davis pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Mr Wolfson told the hearing how Davis had a previous conviction for assault where he knocked a man's two front teeth out during an attack.
Judge Burgess jailed David for eight months, suspended for 18 months, ordered him to undertake 100 hours unpaid work and handed him a three-month curfew confining him to his home address between 7pm and 4.30pm.
He also ordered Davis to pay £500 compensation to his victim.
Judge Burgess said: "When I read these papers I had pencilled in what I thought was the right sentence, you walking through that back door because you were going to prison.
"It was a dreadful piece of behaviour, kicking and punching a man many years older than you.
"But I have been persuaded by your father to suspend the terms of your sentence and this is an exceptional case."
