A man launched an unprovoked attack on a coffee shop customer in the middle of the afternoon, a court has heard.
Russell Holcombe “lulled his victim into a false sense of security” by chatting with him before beating him about the head with a chain as he sat outside a Starbucks branch.
Newport Crown Court heard the 52-year-old defendant later accused his victim of being “a grass”.
Hartej Saund-Matharu, prosecuting, told the court that on the afternoon of June 22 this year the complainant in the case, Yves Kazungu, was sat outside the Starbucks coffee shop in Cardiff’s Central Square with two friends when the defendant approached the group.
He said Holcombe started chatting to the men and everything appeared “calm” at first.
However the defendant suddenly shouted an accusation at Mr Kazungu before producing a metal chain from under his jacket and striking him to the head causing a number of lacerations.
The court heard Holcombe then walked away from the scene before returning and apologising.
Police were called and the defendant was located a short distance away standing in a shop doorway where he was arrested. A discarded chain was recovered from nearby.
The court that while being transported to the police station Holcombe told officers: “He was a grass and he attacked me last week.”
Russell Holcombe, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has 16 previous convictions for 24 offences including arson, theft, public disorder, and drugs matters.
The court heard that three days before the chain attack the defendant was fined for possession of an imitation firearm. That offending involved Holcombe being seen holding what appeared to be a handgun under the table at a McDonald’s restaurant prompting a response form armed police. The handgun turned out to be a cigarette lighter in the shape of a gun.
Holcombe’s barrister told the court his client had been free from drugs for the last four or five years and said while being held on remand in prison he had secured a trusted job as a painter.
Judge Carl Harrison said Holcombe had “lulled his victim into a false sense of security” by chatting with him as he sat outside the coffee shop before launching a “brutal and unprovoked attack”.
He said the assault took place in a busy public space in the middle of the day and he noted the defendant had taken a chain to the location to use as a weapon and that there had clearly been a degree of planning to what happened. The judge also noted that Holcombe had been drunk at the time of the incident.
With one-third discounts for his guilty pleas Holcombe was sentenced to 13 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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