A trained martial artist on an ‘alcohol and cocaine-fuelled binge’ knocked out a stranger after thinking he heard the victim’s friend ‘talking s***’ about him.
Otis Johnson, 24, walked up to Adam Walkden and punched him to the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
Mr Walkden needed a six-hour operation to insert metal plates into his jaw following the attack last summer.
Dad-of-one Johnson, from, Whitefield, has now been jailed for two years and six months after admitting causing grievous bodily harm.
Sentencing him, Judge Paul Lawton said it was one of the most ‘senseless and gratuitous’ acts of violence he has ever witnessed in all his years as a circuit judge.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Johnson had been enjoying a night out with three friends when he stumbled across Mr Walkden in the early hours of July 18 this year.
The group were waiting to buy items from the Shell garage in Bury New Road, Prestwich, prosecutor James Preece told the court.
Mr Walkden was also with friends having enjoyed a night out at a bar and they were also waiting to buy alcohol from the garage.
Mr Preece said there was ‘little interaction’ between the two groups, who were strangers, save from one advising the other that they couldn’t go into the shop at that time – around 3.30am.
The victim remembers nothing of the attack but recalls coming around while on the floor.
However clear CCTV footage shows Johnson approaching Mr Walkden and punching him suddenly to the back of the head, at which point he can be seen collapsing to the floor.
The prosecutor said Johnson then raised his arms and was heard to say “someone was talking s*** about us”.
The footage, shown in court, captures friends from both groups rushing to assist the injured man.
Mr Preece says his friends called for an ambulance but were advised it would be a wait of one hour and 45 minutes.
Mr Walkden instead took a taxi to hospital where he remained under observation for 48 hours.
He was also told to rest for eight weeks and required surgery to insert metal plates into his jaw to repair two fractures, Mr Preece said.
Johnson was identified by a police officer from CCTV footage and was arrested at home.
Mr Preece said Johnson told police that he had been intoxicated by cocaine and alcohol and stated that he had not slept for days.
He claimed that one of the women in Mr Walkden’s group had been saying something about him and as a result he went to assault the victim.
Johnson, who has 24 convictions for 39 offences, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
Laura Broome, defending, said Johnson is remorseful for the attack and wishes to apologise to the victim.
She told the court how Johnson had been using illicit substances daily at the time of the offence following the sudden and unexpected death of his father.
“He heard a female use what he thought were racist slurs and lashed out at Mr Walkden,” she said.
“He accepts that he acted out of control.”
Ms Broome said Johnson has a number of health conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as an anxiety disorder, a personality disorder and depression.
“Mr Johnson’s extreme sensitivity to ridicule and rejection leaves him feeling ill at ease,” she said.
The defendant had also spent time using a wheelchair as a result of another health condition, she added.
The dad – who has a two-year-old daughter – no longer uses alcohol or drugs and hopes to become a barber when he leaves custody, Ms Broome said.
But Judge Lawton said the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
“You had been awake for days on an alcohol and cocaine fuelled binge,” he said.
“It appears you felt affronted by something said to you by a young woman.
“In response you approached Mr Walkden from behind and struck a forceful blow to his jaw from behind.
“It was, as you recognise, a senseless, unnecessary, gratuitous act of violence over nothing in reality, with devastating consequences for Mr Walkden.”
Judge Lawton said Johnson had ‘aggravated’ his own issues by ‘abandoning’ his ADHD medication and self-medicating with alcohol and cocaine.
Jailing Johnson for two years and six months he said: “This was one of the most senseless, gratuitous act of violence I have ever witnessed in all my years as a circuit judge.”
