Deeside man jailed for 'sustained and sickening' attack

Liam Dowling, of Ash Lane, Mancot, appeared before Mold Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday (April 11). 

The 25-year-old had previously admitted inflincting grievous bodily harm on Thomas Richardson on October 15, 2021. 

David Mainstone, prosecuting, said that on the evening of October 15, Mr Richardson had appeared on the doorstep of Dowling's property. 

The door was answered by Dowling's partner, who told Mr Richardson to leave. Dowling then approached Mr Richardson from the side of the property carrying a hammer. 

The court was shown CCTV footage of the subsequent incident - which shows a scuffle between the pair leading to Dowling repeatedly punching Mr Richardson. He forces Mr Richardson to the floor and continues to punch him.

The footage then shows Dowling, a father of two young children, stamping on Mr Richardson and kicking him to the head - knocking him unconscious. 

Dowling is heard shouting: "You're f****** dead" and "get up". He also makes references to being a professional ring fighter. 

He is also heard making reference to a single pair of knuckle-dusters that Mr Richardson purportedly had in his possession. However, the court was told that, while knuckle-duster were found outside the property, they did not contain Mr Richardson's finger prints. 

Liam Dowling (Image: North Wales Police)

The court heard that Mr Richardson was unconscious for around six minutes. He was left with a fractured eye socket and fractured cheek and jaw bones - for which he needed facial reconstruction surgery. 

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Mr Richardson said he has been suffering from mental health-related issues following the incident. He had also been signed off from work for eight weeks and was left with some vision problems. 

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Defending, Gareth Bellis said the attack was "totally out of character" for Dowling.

Mr Bellis said a psychiatric report compiled on Dowling says he shows "strong" signs of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The report, from Professor Ranganathan states: "Dowling's actions are likely to have been influenced by the aspect of his mental health condition, particularly difficulty in understanding the intentions of others, recklessness and fearlessness. I believe that these types of problems help understand why Dowling reacted in such a disproportionate way."

He referred to a pre-sentence report from the probation service which states that Dowling, who had one prior conviction relating to threatening behaviour, is at a low risk of reoffending in the future.  

Judge Niclas Parry described the attack as "vicious, sickening and sustained". He said that in the second half of the incident, Mr Richardson was "as vulnerable as could be". 

Dowling was sentenced to two years imprisonment - half of which he will serve on licence.