Man Jailed For Sandown Assault Which Left Victim With Fractured Eye Socket

Monday, 12 February 2024 14:14

A man who fractured another man’s eye socket during a serious assault in Sandown has been jailed.

On the evening of Monday 27 December 2021, 32-year-old Paul Bishton was having drinks at his address in a shared accommodation block in Fort Street, when he invited another resident into his room to pat his dog.

Bishton then lunged at the man, completely unprovoked, and punched him in the head. He then proceeded to repeatedly kick the man in the face whilst the victim was on the floor.

Despite the victim’s pleas for him to stop, Bishton continued the attack, punching and kicking the man and stamping on his head.

The victim sustained fractures to his eye socket as a result, as well as a broken nose and cuts to his eyebrow, eyelid and lips.

Following this, other residents tried to calm Bishton down before he assaulted another man in the block, leaving him with scratches to his shoulder, arms and back.

Bishton, now of Sandown Road in Sandown, was arrested and later charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

He admitted the ABH assault on the second victim at a previous court hearing, but denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent to the first man.

The case went to trial at Newport Crown Court on Monday 5 February, and Bishton was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on Thursday 8 February.

The judge sentenced Bishton for both charges right away, and he was jailed for a total of 5 years.

DC Amela Smajic said:

“This was a horrific display of drunken violence perpetrated by Bishton against two men, leaving one with serious facial injuries.

“There is simply no place for violence in society, particularly at the scale shown by Bishton, and he will rightly now suffer the consequences of his actions.”