NTU student fractured victim's skull with one punch Halloween attack

But the victim, also a student, did not want to see his attacker jailed

A Nottingham Trent University student fractured the skull of a fellow student when he punched him unconscious in the city centre. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Aryan Ramnani Martinez struck the victim once after being deliberately tripped up by the complainant as they crossed the street while on a night out celebrating Halloween.

The 21-year-old ran off but the woman he was with stayed at the scene and placed the man he hit into the recovery position where she received a message from the defendant asking her “not to snitch”.

The victim, who was a first year student, spent nine days in hospital and then two months stuck in his own flat recuperating, missing valuable study time for his degree course. But when he gave his victim impact statement, he told the probation service that he did not want his attacker to be sent to jail.

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Handing Martinez a suspended sentence order, Recorder Penelope Stanistreet-Keen said: “People can die in these circumstances and the courts regularly see cases like this where they do. You left him in the road, he then spent nine days in hospital with a fractured skull.

“Cases like this come before the courts with depressing regularity from a combination of drink and bravado.” Dominic Shelley, prosecuting, said the incident took place in Milton Street in the early hours of November 1, 2022.

He said both parties had been out celebrating Halloween and as they crossed the road in opposite directions the victim “for no reason” stuck his foot out and tripped the defendant who then confronted him and punched him once to the face.

The prosecutor said: “His head made contact with the ground and caused a fracture just behind the right ear. The defendant ran off, but the female he was with stayed at the scene, got the victim off the road, onto the pavement and into the recovery position.

“While she was there the defendant sent her a text message saying ‘please don’t snitch’.”

Mr Shelley said the defendant, of Union Road, Nottingham, was later arrested and “became emotional” when he was shown CCTV of the punch. He later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and has no previous convictions.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court by the prosecutor, the student who was assaulted said: “I had just started at university and moved to the city and I missed so much including seminars, lectures, exams and assessments. I planned to work to support myself during my studies but I was not able to and spent two months stuck in my flat unable to make friends and socialise.”

Mr Shelley said: “(The victim) said he does not want this defendant to go to prison for what he did which is very fair of him.” Luc Chignell, mitigating, said his client has never been in trouble with the law in his entire life and was in the city to study for a degree from his home country of Spain.

He said: “There is a letter in which he apologises to the victim and says ‘I really wish I could go back in time and change what I did. I was stupid and I really know how much this has changed (the victim’s) life’.”

The judge handed the defendant an eight-month jail term, suspended for a year and ordered him to pay the victim £300 compensation.