Shock as man spared jail for GBH celebrates outside court

THE TABLOID press is in uproar today after two men involved in a vicious attack walked free from court. One of the pair, Daniel Chrapkowski, was photographed punching the air in celebration, despite having been spared a custodial sentence after expressing his remorse at the attack which left his victim in hospital for a month.

On the night he was attacked, office worker Joseph O'Reilly had been out with his girlfriend. As they walked home they passed three men who were kicking bins around the street. When O'Reilly challenged them, Chrapkowski punched him in the face. He was then subjected to a beating that left him with a fractured jaw and bleeding on the brain. A year on, he can still only chew food on one side, the Daily Mail reports.

At Manchester Crown Court, the lawyer for Chrapkowski, an unemployed 24-year-old from Offerton, Stockport, said: "He is extremely remorseful and wishes to apologise to the court. It is extremely out of character in a misguided attempt to protect his friend."

Thomas Lane, a 24-year-old sign writer also from Offerton, insisted he made no contact with O'Reilly. His lawyer said in court: "[Lane] accepts he had been out drinking and engaging in tomfoolery - kicking around bins and that they were confronted.

"He became embroiled in an argument with a member of the public which he shouldn't have done but that mischief doesn't cross the custody threshold."

Yesterday, Chrapkowski was found guilty of grievous bodily harm and given a 12-month suspended prison term and 160 hours of unpaid work. Lane was convicted of affray and handed a 12-month community order, a curfew and 120 hours of unpaid work.

A third man, Oliver O'Neill, was jailed for 27 months. The 23-year-old had been on bail for a separate assault.

But far from looking contrite after escaping jail, Chrapkowski looked like he had "won an award", in the words of his victim O’Reilly, when he walked out of court. O’Reilly added: "The fact they were celebrating proves they themselves assumed they were gong to go to jail - yet the judge just let them go."

Today, the picture of Chrapkowski punching the air in delight outside court makes the front pages of the Daily Mirror and The Sun.

The latter labels the case a 'Loutrage' and, in an editorial, the paper calls for the presiding judge to quit or be sacked: "If the judiciary have given up on instant jail for brutes displaying this level of violence, we are heading back to the Dark Ages. Judge Steiger should hand back his wig today. Or have it taken from him."

The Mirror, meanwhile, says the case brings the law into contempt. "How was justice served yesterday by two hooligans walking free from court? The truth is it wasn't". ·