Student pub crawl boss spared jail for punching resident unconscious

Ryan Hilton, 23, from Filey, North Yorkshire, was given a six-month sentence suspended for two years for attacking 61-year-old Mark Roberts during one of Carnage UK's late-night events in Bangor, North Wales.

Mr Roberts, a commercial diver who lives in Bangor city centre and near a number of student venues, had approached Hilton to seek reassurance that he would get a good night's sleep.

But Hilton, a 6ft 4in nightclub bouncer, responded with a foul-mouthed outburst and punched the older man on the chin with such force that he fell to the ground, banged his head and fell unconscious.

Hilton, from King Street, in Muston, Filey, was convicted by District Judge Miriam Shelby following a trial at Llandudno Magistrates' Court last month.

Sentencing today, Judge Shelby told Hilton she was convinced to suspend the jail term following a plea for leniency from Mr Roberts.

She said: "You were employed by a company with an unsavoury name - Carnage UK - which is involved in making commercial profit from mass bar crawls for students in university towns.

"You told me it was your job to sort out complaints.

"Mr Roberts was a 61-year-old man living in the area directly affected that night.

"Your response to him was to abuse him verbally and punch him to the face with such force that you knocked him to the floor and he lost consciousness."

The judge added that, in her view, the force of the attack and the disparity of age between the two men meant Hilton should go straight to jail.

But she said: "It is unusual to hear such a cogent plea from the victim that the offender should be spared a prison sentence."

Hilton, who no longer works for the pub crawl firm and can no longer work in security because of his conviction, was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay Mr Roberts 1,500 in compensation.

Carnage UK has drawn criticism over apparent excessive drinking by students taking part in its pub crawls across the country.

Last year, Sheffield student Philip Laing, 19, was convicted after being photographed urinating on a war memorial during a Carnage UK event.