Bouncer jailed for attack in Wrexham

A Nightclub bouncer who punched a customer twice in the face before throwing a bucket of water over him was yesterday jailed for six months.

Two other doormen at Wrexham’s Envy nightclub joined in the attack, pinning the unconscious man down in an alleyway at the back of the club.

Powerfully-built Derek Pickering, 44, the club’s head of security, carried out a "gratuitous assault" which was "simply for his own pleasure", Judge John Rogers QC said yesterday.

The judge said a prison sentence was needed as a deterrent to send a message door staff.

It was also to reflect the seriousness of what the defendant, who was in a position of responsibility over his two colleagues, had done.

The victim had been fortunate not to have suffered a very serious head injury, Judge Rogers said.

Mold Crown Court was told that Paul Mondy had been to a sportsman’s dinner at Wrexham Football Club’s Racecourse ground before he and friends went on to the Envy Nightclub in Brook Street.

Andrew McInnes, prosecuting, said Mr Mondy accepted he was drunk and he could remember nothing of what happened until he found himself lying in the street, injured and covered in blood.

But a CCTV film showed he had been ejected by two doormen. One held him in a headlock and a second by the arm.

The film showed how they took him being taken up an alleyway where Pickering, the head of security at the club, then appeared.

While the others held him, Pickering punched him twice in the face and Mr Mondy may have hit his head against nearby railings. The victim fell to the ground unconscious .

The two other doormen then pinned him down by standing on his arms while Pickering went back into the club, got a bucket of water, and threw it over him.

Pickering had previously been convicted of the assault at Wrexham Magistrates Court and the case had been sent to the crown court for sentence

Pickering, of Cecil Road, Birkenhead, who also worked as a bus driver, was described as a large powerful man while his victim was relatively small.

Defending barrister Nicholas Walker said Pickering had previous convictions for violence but had never acted that way before and could not understand it.

He was ashamed and contrite and had since given up "working on the doors".

The defendant was a hard worker, had a mortgage, and jail could possibly mean he would lose his home.

The court heard another doorman had received a suspended prison sentence for the assault in the magistrates’ court, and a third had had elected Crown Court trial but no evidence was offered against him., a decision which Judge Roger told the court he found "difficult to understand".

A spokesman for the Liquid and Envy nightclub in Wrexham said: "This was completely irresponsible behaviour by a person whose responsibility it was to protect our customers.

"All those involved were suspended immediately and are never welcome at this club again.

"I would like to stress that this is an extremely rare incident and we are proud of our safe and professional members of the door team."