Man who beat teenager into a coma with a baseball bat jailed for 13 years

John Pugh (43) went to the man’s home in Black Horse Drove, Littleport, on March 6, 2017, knocked on the door and attacked him on his doorstep.

The victim’s girlfriend returned home at about 9.15pm to find him lying semi-conscious in a pool of blood in the doorway.

She called an ambulance and the man, who was 19 at the time, was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, where emergency surgery was performed on two skull fractures, multiple bleeds to the brain and a large scalp laceration. Following surgery he was placed in a coma, but went on to make a recovery.

Before going into surgery the victim was able to provide a description of his attacker, which matched a photo of Pugh found on his wife’s Facebook page. Telephone data showed Pugh’s mobile phone was in the area of the victim’s address at the time of the offence.

The court heard how the victim and Pugh’s son had been involved in an altercation in Ten Mile Bank the previous day. This was investigated and a file submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, but no further action was taken.

Pugh, of Merivale Way, Ely, denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent but was found guilty following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

Yesterday (Friday) at the same court he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

DC Mark Beaven said: “This was a vicious attack motivated solely by revenge, which left a young man fighting for his life. The victim has been traumatised by what happened and still regularly experiences headaches and other intermittent pains, which have been linked to the injuries he sustained.

“It has been a long and arduous two year journey for all, with a defence alibi that continually changed to counter evidence gathered during the investigation.

“There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of action or carrying an offensive weapon in public. Tackling serious street based violence is a force priority and we will continue to do all we can to bring offenders to justice.”