25-year-old given suspended sentence after knocking man unconscious outside Cambridge pub

A Cambridge man has been given a suspended sentence and a curfew after an attack in a pub which left the victim unconscious.

Liam Donovan, 25, of Eastefield, was talking to a woman in The Grapes, in Histon Road, Cambridge, when an argument broke out between them at about 11.30pm on June 9, 2017.

A man in his 50s intervened and asked Donovan to calm down.

But as the man left the pub, Donovan punched him in the back of the head, causing him to fall forwards unconscious on to the pavement. As others came to his aid, Donovan fled.

Donovan was arrested by Cambridgeshire police the following day after a short vehicle pursuit in Cambridge city centre that ended when the car he was driving collided with a steel bollard in Burleigh Street.

He ran from the scene of the crash, but was chased by officers to Brandon Court and detained.

Donovan was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent at Peterborough Crown Court on March 21.

He was sentenced on Thursday (October 15) at Cambridge Crown Court where he was handed 21 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete a 45-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a six-month alcohol treatment programme.

Donovan was also made the subject of a three-month curfew, between 8pm and 6am, and ordered to pay £500 in compensation to his victim.

Det Con Terry Bandoo said: “This was an unprovoked attack on someone who was just trying to defuse an argument. It has left the victim understandably shaken.

“This is an example of how a split-second decision can have serious consequences.”

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