A drug fuelled man who had been drinking at the pub punched a woman who was ''frozen in fear'' in the face and threatened her with a knife. Ricci Davies, 29 who has been taking cocaine and Xanax assaulted the woman in an unprovoked attack and left her with blood pouring from her nose and left eye.
The 29 year old thug had visited a Wetherspoon pub in Abertillery on July 16 at around 10:30pm looking around for a fight, Wales Online reports. A customer in the pub said he entered the pub in Wales asking people ''Where's the fight?'' and behaving ''rowdy'' while sweating ''profusely'' , Cardiff Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor, William Bebb said the intoxicated man was seen flagging down cars in Somerset Street and at one point was also sitting in the boot of a car before he entered the Somerset Hotel across the street. The deputy manager of the hotel said he spied the drunk man who was ''drawing attention to himself'' and ''causing problems'' at the bar as he feared a fight was about to break out as Davies went to the toilet and was followed by two other men.
The employee went through and saw "all three were punching each other" before himself being hit "a few times" while trying to hold them apart. Two of the men left but Davies remained and the deputy manager noticed he was holding a knife, around two inches long and pointed at the end.
He warned he would "do it" but eventually said: "I will leave but don't touch my s***." Davies then exited the hotel. The prosecutor said a woman on a night out in Somerset Street then noticed Davies was outside the Wetherspoon acting "aggressively" towards passers-by.
"The defendant came towards her in an unusual manner," said Mr Bebb. "She tried to make it clear to the defendant she was not looking at him.
''By this point, due to the manner of the defendant and his larger build, she describes being frozen in fear." The woman remarked that Davies appeared very sweaty, which prompted him to rip off his red polo shirt and wrap it around his knuckles while throwing pieces of it at her and asking: "What did you say? What did you say?"
She replied "nothing" in an attempt to defuse the tension but Davies called her a "fat b****" and punched her in the face. Her left eye and nose bled profusely as a passer-by came to her aid. Davies fled to his home and took his Jack Russell for a walk in Hill Street, where police found him topless. As he was arrested he told officers: "You know me, don't you?"
In a statement read to the court, the woman said she lost "all confidence" and became "very paranoid" following the attack, which she feared would permanently damage her eye due to the amount of blood. She added: "I do not feel safe unless I am with someone I know."
Davies, of Somerset Street, admitted affray, assault causing actual bodily harm (ABH) and possession of a blade. He has 29 previous offences on his record including sexual assault, affray, assaulting a police officer and battery.
Ed Mitchard, mitigating, said Davies had snorted what he thought was straight cocaine on the night of the offences, but had turned out to be laced with Xanax, a tranquiliser he had not taken before. Davies, who has post-traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, remembers little of the night but feels remorse for his behaviour, said the solicitor, who described him as "an intelligent person who wants to better himself".
Mr Mitchard added: "Since he has been in custody Mr Davies has had enhanced status in prison and fully behaved himself. He has lost just over three stone since being in custody.
''At the time of his arrest he was binge-drinking on a daily basis and becoming corpulent. He realises now that alcohol is at the crux of his offending behaviour. He has addressed this through the medical facilities at HMP Cardiff."
Judge Shomon Khan said Davies' "completely unacceptable and unjustified" attack had a huge impact on the woman, adding: "She had done nothing to you." The defendant nodded. The judge imposed a 20-month jail term.
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