A thug who broke a takeaway worker's eye socket because he wanted a free pizza moaned "I don't want to be going to jail" as he was locked up.
Jonathon Olley caused multiple fractures to the victim's face and left him needing surgery, all because he did not want to pay for the takeaway food. At Newcastle Crown Court, Olley was jailed for 12 months for GBH and given a restraining order to keep him away from the food shop.
As he was about to be led away to start the jail term, Olley told the court: "This is not what should be happening, it's an absolute disgrace, I've tried my best to fix myself. It's hard when you are an alcoholic, it's very, very hard. I don't want to be in this position. I have been to jail before, I've experienced it, it's not a nice place.
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"I want to be with my partner. I don't want to be going to jail. I know I have done wrong, I have held my hands up, I have said sorry and I am."
But Recorder Mark McKone KC told Olley, 39, of Stanton Close, Wardley, Gateshead who has 25 previous convictions, including violence: "You cannot be punching people in pizza shops and fracturing their eye socket. If that happens, a prison sentence will follow."
The court heard Olley had paid for a 10 inch pizza at the Golden Chef takeaway at Borough Road in Sunderland on October 6 last year but then demanded that he wanted a 12 inch one, at no extra cost or he would "smash the shop up". The the staff member said he would give him the bigger pizza, for the same price as the small one, in an effort to calm the situation.
But prosecutor Jessica Slaughter told the court: "The defendant demanded he was given both pizzas, with the smaller one for free." Miss Slaughter said when Olley's request for the free smaller pizza was refused, he walked behind the counter twice and acted aggressively.
CCTV from inside the shop showed Olley go back to the customer side of the shop then throw a punch at the worker, across the counter. The victim, who has been in the food trade for 30 years, needed two surgical procedures to his eye.
He said in an impact statement: "I have always tried not to argue with customers. This attack has left me with potentially life changing injuries. It was unnecessarily violent, totally unprovoked. I did all I could to help resolve the situation."
Robin Turton, defending, had told the court Olley was "ashamed and disgusted" in his behaviour.
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