Jordan Pope was with a group of friends in the early hours of 24 July last year when he attacked the victim, a man aged in his 20s, in Culver Street West shortly before 2am.
During the incident, Pope punched the man to the ground and continued the violent assault by stamping on the man’s head as he tried to sit up, leaving him lying unconscious in the road.
The victim’s brother was also with him at the time and was also assaulted by others in Pope’s group and witnessed the aftermath of the attack.
As a result of the incident, the victim sustained serious head injuries.
Thankfully, he has made a recovery, but has been left with large scars and permanent hearing loss in one ear. He and his brother also continue to live with the trauma of the incident.
Pope and his group quickly made off from the area but were seen on CCTV moving around the city in the minutes after the incident.
Some of the group were later seen at the top of North Hill by security staff, who gave chase, but the group were able to flee.
Thanks to speedy investigative work, we quickly were able to identify Pope and others in his group, a number of whom were later arrested.
Two of those arrested, Finley Taylor and Lewis Dawson, were dealt with separately, Taylor for assaulting the victim’s brother and Dawson for assaulting the man and his brother.
Taylor, 23, of Hart Court, Sprowston and Dawson, 21, of The Beeches, Little Blakenham, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 15 February 2023.
Both men admitted assault and were sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months and were ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
Jailed
Pope, 25, of Melville Road, Ipswich, was later arrested and charged with GBH with Intent and assault.
He admitted the charge at Ipswich Crown Court on 16 February 2023 and was sentenced yesterday, Wednesday 26 April, to five years and two months.
He will serve two-thirds of the sentence.
Her Honour Judge Emma Peters described the incident as a vicious assault causing serious and almost catastrophic injuries which the victim is likely to endure for the rest of his life.
‘Thank you’
In a statement, the victim’s family said:
“As a family, we would like to express our greatest gratitude to Colchester CID for their tireless efforts and commitment to catching and building the case against Pope to ensure he is not a danger to others.
“We would also like to thank all the members of the public who were brave enough to step forward and give a statement helping to build the case. Again, we would like to express our thanks to the security working on the door that night at Walkabout and Hudson’s bar. These doormen are too often given a bad press and not enough recognition for the hard and dangerous work that they do, leaving their own families to ensure the safety of ours.
“We will never be able to express our gratitude enough, to the guys on the door that night, for their swift actions and first aid skills, without their professionalism we could have had a very different outcome.
“Getting that phone call is every parent’s nightmare. Seeing our two sons leaving the house excited for a night out, the next time we saw them was in hospital. One being urgently transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for life-saving brain surgery.
“Seeing our son on a life support machine in intensive care, not knowing what the outcome was going to be, fearing the worst was devastating. We will never understand how one human being can do that to another without any care or thought for the seriousness or consequences of their actions.
“Fortunately, there are more good then evil people in this world and that was evident on the night this incident took place. So instead of talking about Jordon Pope and giving him any more of our time, we instead would like to express our deepest gratitude to anyone involved in helping our sons that night, they are true heroes.
“Without their help and quick actions our family could have been ripped apart. They kept our family together as a unit and for that we will be forever grateful. Thankfully both our sons are recovering well and receiving the support they require to continue their recovery.”
Detective Constable Hannah Richardson, of Colchester CID, led our investigation.
She said:
“Jordan Pope is a dangerous individual. His actions in July last year have led to a life-long injury, but could have easily caused a life-ending injury.
“The impact this incident has had on the victim and his family cannot be underestimated.
“The bravery they have shown throughout the investigation is humbling and I hope today the victim and his family can feel some comfort that Pope has been suitably punished for his actions in Colchester that night.
“I would also like to thank the members of door staff and members of the public who quickly came to the aid of the victims which prevented further violence being used against both the brothers and enabled swift medical treatment to be sought.”
