A MAN from Rhuddlan who was sacked from his job at a holiday park left his former supervisor with a fractured eye socket after punching him in an alleyway in Rhyl.
Connor Chamberlain was said to have held a “very real grudge” against Kyle Healey after losing his job at Presthaven Sands, Gronant in September 2022.
Today (November 19), Chamberlain, 20, of Pentre Lane, was handed a 12-month community order at Caernarfon Crown Court (sitting at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court).
He had initially denied a charge of causing grievous bodily harm, but changed his plea to guilty on the day his trial was due to start.
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Prosecutor Philip Clemo said that, in the months that followed Chamberlain’s dismissal, he was “aggressive” and “unmistakably hostile” to Mr Healey whenever the two crossed paths.
Then, on June 3, 2023, Mr Healey was on a night out in Rhyl with his brother and his brother’s partner when they saw Chamberlain with a friend.
Words were exchanged, but Mr Healey and his group then moved on to a different bar.
Later, though, the two groups came across each other in the street, and Chamberlain told Mr Healey to get into a nearby alleyway, with which he complied.
CCTV footage showed Chamberlain “berating” Mr Healey, shoving him into a wall, punching him, and pointing and shouting at him, before leaving.
Mr Healey was left injured in the alleyway; it later transpired that he had fractured his eye socket.
In a statement made shortly after the incident, he said the incident had “really shaken him up”, and made him no longer feel safe either at work or when out with friends.
Defending Chamberlain, who was of previous good character, Amy Edwards said he regrets his actions and has not re-offended in the near-18 months since.
Ms Edwards said the two men have seen each other in Rhyl since that evening, but have had “no issues”.
Chamberlain, supported in court by his father, was said to be in full-time employment, with positive character references having been submitted on his behalf.
“How he acted on that night is out of character,” Ms Edwards said.
Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts ordered Chamberlain to complete 120 hours’ unpaid work, 20 days’ rehabilitation activity, and a four-month period of monitored alcohol abstinence, as part of his community order.
Chamberlain will also pay Mr Healey £500 in compensation.
Judge Petts told him: “The pictures are not pretty… (but) I accept this grew out of a chance encounter. It wasn’t a case of you having gone looking for him.”
A five-year restraining order was made to protect Mr Healey.
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