Man jailed for Sudbury nightclub attack

A man who lashed out with a bottle outside a Sudbury nightclub has been jailed.

Forrest Francis, 21, was seen by a police officer to be brandishing the bottle “like a baseball bat” close to the Infinity nightclub in East Street during the early hours of September 27 last year.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Francis, of Bell’s Lane, Sudbury, had struck Benjamin Taylor on the head with the bottle, inflicting two cuts near his eye, one of which needed stitches.

Emma Nash, prosecuting, said Mr Taylor had been left more than £4,000 out of pocket because the incident had resulted in him being forced to take time off work.

Francis pleaded guilty to an offence of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Miss Nash told the court that Francis had previous convictions including for assaulting police officers, obstructing a police officer and damaging a police vehicle in June last year.

Judge John Devaux told Francis that his offending was so serious that only immediate custody was appropriate and sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment.

In mitigation Lindsay Cox said Francis had, at the time of the attack, been experiencing personal difficulties following the breakdown of a long-term relationship.

Francis, who had been drunk, behaved entirely differently when he was sober, said Mr Cox.