Detective condemns "unprovoked and inexcusable violence" after Worksop mob attacked Polish man after rumour he stole a mobile phone

Ten people banged angrily on the doors and windows of his Talbot Road home, and tried to get inside, after hearing a rumour he had stolen a mobile phone, on June 14, 2019.

Prosecutor Stefan Fox said he "tried to explain his innocence but it mattered little." A rear window was smashed and Jamie Ball and Kimberley Russon got inside, shouting they were going to kill him.

He was kicked and punched but managed to escape, running and falling over, before trying to find refuge in a shop on Cheapside.

Ball and Russon followed him inside. CCTV showed the shopkeeper “made no effort” to help the bleeding man.

Ball tried to drag him outside and Russon hit him “a number of times.”

Their victim had experienced "long-standing trouble from local children," and a mobile phone was left outside his house but he didn’t pick it up.

Ball later tried to blame Russon for the violence. Russon said she “saw red” when she was told her son’s mobile had been stolen, said Mr Fox.

The man was left with a fractured wrist, multiple scratches, bruises and abrasions, but Nottingham Crown Court heard there was no permanent damage.

Russon, 32, of Church Walk, and Ball, 44, of Rushey Close, both from Worksop, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, in September 2020. Delays were caused by a third co-defendant.

Gregor Purcell, for Ball, said the father-of-three “accepts what he did was shameful,” but his fractured wrist was probably caused when the man fell as he was chased.

Matthew Smith, said Russon is now an HGV driver who travels up and down the country, and would be unable to carry out unpaid work.

Both defendants have stayed out of trouble for the intervening time.

On Wednesday, Recorder Michael Auty QC told them: “It must have been terrifying. This young man found himself seriously injured based exclusively on the wrong information.”

Ball received 18 months, suspended for two years, with 120 hours of unpaid work and must pay £500 compensation. Russon was handed 12 months, suspended for two years, and must pay £1,000 compensation.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Emma Dalton, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was an appalling display of unprovoked and inexcusable violence against a victim who had done absolutely nothing wrong.

“Ball and Russon arrived at the address intent on confrontation and were fortunate not to cause more serious injury to their victim.

“I am pleased they have now been dealt with by the courts and hope this case serves as an example to others.

“There is never a justification for violently attacking another person, and those who do so will be dealt with robustly by Nottinghamshire Police.”

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