Racist thug kicked man so hard his head smashed through Plymouth bus window

Sam Small admitted the entirely unprovoked racially motivated attack

A man is set to be sentenced next month by a judge after he admitted an entirely unprovoked racially motivated assault on a bus, where he kicked his victim’s head so hard it smashed through a window.

Police were alerted to the incident which took place on a double-decker bus on Mannamead Road at around 9.20pm on Monday, March 24.

Sam Small, aged 31, was arrested the following day and taken to Charles Cross police station before he was interviewed and later charged with racially aggravated actual bodily harm, one count of actual bodily harm and two counts of criminal damage.

Appearing from custody Plymouth Magistrates’ Court today Small, who gave his address as Union Street, pleaded guilty to all four offences.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Hannah Cotton said the victim was waiting at the bus stop at 9.10pm to go to work at Derriford Hospital.

He saw Small in the street “screaming and making noises”. The double-decker bus arrived and he boarded it, heading upstairs to the top deck but was soon joined by Small who sat behind him.

The victim, whom the court said was a man of Asian descent, later told police he heard Small say something to the effect of “getting to the hospital mate” before he then placed his earpods into his ears and began listening to music.

Ms Cotton said CCTV footage from the bus then showed Small getting into the man’s face and said “take off your phone”. The victim removed his earpods and Small screamed at the man “take off your phone”.

The court heard that the CCTV then showed Small holding onto the railings of bus and used it as leverage to lift himself up and kick the victim in the head which caused the victims face to slam against the bus window. The force was so strong that the victim’s glasses broke and they went flying out of the smashed window along with one of his earpods. Another passenger began to scream and ran downstairs and the bus came to a sudden stop.

The victim tried to protect himself by putting his arms up but Small continued his assault, throwing a series of punches at the man. Small then left the bus and the victim was taken to Derriford Hospital for treatment. A CT scan revealed a nasal septum deviation and several cuts and bruises to his face.

In a victim impact statement the man said he was “really shocked” by the attack, adding that he’d been in the country for three years and had “never experienced such rude and arrogant behaviour towards me”. He said it was the usual time he went to work and he was now worried of encountering Small again.

He added that due to his head injury he had been signed off work for a week which he could ill afford and his partner had had to take time off her work to care for him.

Ms Cotton said witnesses had told police Small shouted “leave off our girls” and “he’s taken our girls”. When Small was later arrested by police he was caught on bodyworn video saying “I’ll go guilty, I don’t give a f***. It’s all on CCTV anyway. The rapists and the nonces out there, most of them are p***s, most of them is them foreigners.”

Ms Cotton also noted that during a previous arrest for another offence, Small was caught on police bodyworn video shouting racist comments including “p***s [in] our country, taking our jobs.”

Ms Cotton noted that Small had an “extensive” record of offences to his name including a conviction for grievous bodily harm in 2011 and actual bodily harm in 2020.

In mitigation, Small’s solicitor Michael Crumley said Small had “substantial” mental health problems exacerbated by his learning disability. He said Small’s family had told him that Small had previously been “begging to have some help for his mental health difficulties” and was in a queue waiting to be assessed.

He said Small was “not receiving the help and support he needs at this time”. He admitted it was an “unpleasant offence by anyone’s reckoning” but to explain the background to the offence one would have to “peel back the layers” when Small was eventually sentenced.

The chair of the bench of magistrates said the matter was so serious that their powers of sentence were not sufficient and remanded Small into custody until April 24 at Plymouth Crown Court. They ordered a full pre-sentence report be undertaken by the Probation Service before that date.

Plymouth Herald