Kevin Wood launched a ‘prolonged and vicious’ attack on a man, which saw him use beer cans to hit the man as he lay helpless on the ground

In a brutal and unprovoked attack, a racist man attempted to murder another by mercilessly beating him with full beer cans while repeatedly asking: “Why aren’t you dying?”

Following a heavy drinking session, Kevin Wood, 38, carried out what was described as a “prolonged and vicious” assault on a man in Wallsend, leaving his victim with severe facial injuries. During the terrifying seven-minute onslaught in which he unleashed 50 blows, Wood used beer cans as weapons against the defenceless man on the ground, whilst hurling racist invective.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the distressing evidence that the entire episode was recorded by a doorbell camera nearby, eventually being stopped when a local resident intervened. Wood, who had been aggressively berating the victim, telling him he would kill him, was eventually apprehended by the police behind a wall.

On Wednesday, Wood appeared before the court from HMP Doncaster via video link to receive his sentence for attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon – the beer cans. He pleaded guilty to these charges stemming from the incident, which took place in the early hours of August 22 last year.

Further details revealed that Wood was living with his mother at the time and had consumed copious amounts of vodka and beer. Following the incident, his mother told authorities that her son had been in a “depressive mood” and suggested that his actions were driven by a desire to get himself incarcerated, reports Chronicle Live.

The victim was found covered in blood following the malicious encounter. In the early hours at approximately 3.15am, a violent altercation between two men prompted a police intervention. Upon arrival, officers discovered one of the men bloodied and lying on the pavement.

It was noted in court that the injured man was uncooperative with the attending officers, while Wood, drenched in the other man’s blood, was found concealed behind a small brick wall near Wallsend High Street.

Initially, Wood attempted to deceive the police by claiming he was the victim, alleging to officers ‘some d***y had tried to tax me’ – a statement later revealed in court to be an unequivocal falsehood. During his subsequent police interview, he chose to remain silent.

Jolyon Perks, leading the prosecution, revealed that doorbell cameras captured the totality of the aggressive encounter. Addressing the tribunal, he recounted: “Footage shows both men in discussion. The defendant had his hand around [the victim] preparing to strike. He asked what he thought of his brother, the victim said ‘he’s a mug’. The defendant then punched him to the ground, leaving him no opportunity to stand up.”

The hearing was informed that at the time of the initial punch, Wood was clutching a brimming beer can. The impact of the assault was so brutal that the can “exploded”. The aggression escalated as Wood seized two additional beer cans in proximity, utilising them as weapons in the assault.

According to evidence presented in court, the victim sustained roughly “50 forceful blows” to the head and visage, supplemented by Wood delivering kicks to the man’s head.

During the trial, the court was informed that the doorbell camera captured not only the visuals but also the audio of the attack. Mr Perks detailed: “The defendant told the victim he was going to die and repeatedly threatens to stab him and tells him he’s going to kill him. He says ‘you’re going to die but first I’m going to smash your face to bits…why aren’t you dying?'”.

Racist abuse was also a part of the harrowing incident, with Wood recorded hurling racial slurs at the victim, calling him “a little f***ing p*** b*****d”. The assault ceased when a neighbour intervened upon hearing the disturbance, prompting Wood to flee the scene. Upon his arrest, Wood remarked to an officer, “I hope this isn’t a race thing”.

The prosecution conveyed to the court their belief that the attempted murder was driven by racial animosity. Following the attack, the victim required medical attention at Cramlington Hospital for “complex facial injuries”, which included multiple lacerations to the lip, with one injury causing partial detachment.

The court also reviewed Wood’s criminal history, which includes 16 prior convictions spanning 23 offences. Notably, in 2018, Wood received a six-year prison sentence for rape. Additionally, while incarcerated, he broke a prison officer’s nose and later bragged about the incident.

Defence counsel Jamie Adams offered insight into Wood’s troubled past, stating: “This is a man who has been beset and blighted by an addiction to alcohol and drugs. Probably since his quite early years. It is likely to have begun a long time ago.”

The defence claimed that the altercation was not racially motivated, explaining that the two individuals involved, Wood and the victim, had a prior acquaintance rooted in their shared history of substance abuse.

Addressing the courtroom, the defence counsel, Mr Adams, said: “It became an addiction and at the time of this offending it is clear that on the night he was drinking heavily and had drank a whole bottle of vodka and cans of beer. He was not in a sober state of mind.”

“It was not an offence motivated by racism. He was a drunk Geordie man using the kind of words he was expressing. There are plenty of Geordie Pakistanis who refer to one another as p**** and d*****.”

According to Mr Adams, the racist language Wood employed during the altercation was used “in the anger of the moment” rather than driven by any intent to harm the victim due to his racial background or skin colour.

Judge Paul Sloan KC, presiding over the case, determined that Wood carried out a “prolonged and vicious attack” and utilised “racist abuse”. The judge deemed Wood to pose a “significant risk to members of the public” and subsequently sentenced him to an extended prison term of 20 years, with 15 years consisting of custodial time. Additionally, a restraining order was enforced.

Daily Record

A club customer has been jailed for slashing the throat of a Royal Marine in an attack which came ‘within a millimetre of murder’.

Wayne Tandy pulled an open Stanley knife out of his pocket during a 3am confrontation outside the Fever club in Barnstaple in June and lashed out towards the neck of victim Ben Turnbull.

The serving Royal Marine jerked backwards to avoid the blow but still suffered a cut on his neck which was very close to vital veins and arteries.

The two men were strangers but both had just left the club and were on either side of a metal barrier outside. Tandy was agitated and Mr Turnbull was telling him to calm down.

Tandy was in North Devon working as a carpet fitter and had kept the knife in his pocket despite returning to the hotel where he was staying to share a crate of beer with a workmate.

He then went to a pub and on to Fever and had been drinking for nine hours at the time of the attack. He fled the scene, checked out of his hotel, and went to sleep in his works van but was tracked by CCTV to an industrial estate.

CCTV outside the club captured the attack itself. Tandy claimed he was not the man in the footage but was clearly identified by a crucifix tattoo on his cheek.

Mr Turnbull received first aid at the scene and the wound was cleaned at hospital, but was not deep and did not need stitches or gluing.

Tandy, of Broadway, Wakefield, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was jailed for six and a half years with a 30 month extended licence by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: “This was a millimetre away from murder. It was a matter of pure good fortune that he moved his head backwards and there was not a greater wound than in fact resulted.

“In my judgment, you do pose a significant risk of causing harm in the future by committing offences and you are a dangerous offender.

“The readiness with which you resorted to using a Stanley knife and the deliberation with which you did so, and the way you were willing to use it against the face or throat of the victim, confirm my conclusion.”

Mr Julian Kesner, prosecuting, said both Tandy and Royal Marine Ben Turnbull were in drink when they exchanged words on either side of a metal barrier outside Fever at 3 am on June 28 this year.

He played CCTV and said: “The footage shows Tandy going into his pocket and getting a knife out. He moves forward and slashes out at Mr Turnbull, making contact with his neck.

“The action was like a haymaker and Mr Turnbull managed to move his head back but was cut. He did not appreciate he had been cut straight away.

“Tandy left the scene and clearly appreciated the seriousness of what he had done because he went to his hotel room, packed his bags and drove a short distance with the intention of evading capture. The van was tracked by CCTV and he was arrested.”

Mr Nick Lewin, defending, said Tandy was working on a carpet laying contract and had the knife in his pocket for work, rather than to use as a weapon.

He said he had only struck one blow, was aiming more for the head than the neck, and had no intention of cutting the other man’s throat.

One of his two young children died while he was in custody awaiting sentence and he was distraught at not being allowed out of jail to attend the funeral.

Devon Live

Article from 2019. He attended several EDL Demos

A Conservative councillor’s wife who was jailed for inciting racial hatred after an online rant against migrants on the day of the Southport attacks has had her appeal against her sentence dismissed.

Lucy Connolly, from Northampton, was jailed for 31 months in October after calling for “mass deportation now” and urging her followers on X to “set fire” to hotels housing asylum seekers.

The tweet was viewed 310,000 times before it was deleted.

Her husband Ray, a member of Northampton Town Council, said he was “heartbroken” that the Court of Appeal had ruled that “there is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive”.

Connolly posted the swearword-ridden message on 29 July 2024 – the day three girls were murdered at a dance class in Southport.

While calling for “mass deportations now”, the 41-year-old childminder wrote: “If that makes me racist, so be it.”

She urged readers to “set fire” to “all the hotels” that were “full” of those she wished to deport.

The post had been deleted before Connolly was arrested on 6 August but it had already been viewed 310,000 times.

She was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred and told that she would serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence.

Giving a written judgment, external on Tuesday, three Court of Appeal judges said Connolly’s principal ground of appeal “was substantially based on a version of events put forward by the applicant which we have rejected”.

Connolly’s husband rejected a call from a local MP for his resignation from West Northamptonshire Council, but lost his seat in this year’s local elections as Reform UK took control of the unitary authority.

He remains a member of Northampton Town Council.

After Tuesday’s appeal court decision, he issued a statement saying he was “heartbroken” his wife’s appeal had been dismissed.

“My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy,” he added.

He went on to say that “the 284 days of separation” had been “very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl”.

“Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport,” he said.

“She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours.

“My wife Lucy is a good person and not a racist. As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them.”

BBC News

you can read the Appeals Court ruling here