Thug shouted to stranger 'why are you singing' - then attacked him with pool cue

THE victim of an unprovoked attack suffered a fractured skull and a bleed to the brain when he was struck from behind with a pool cue.

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

Nottingham Crown Court heard how the man was a total stranger to drug-dealing thug Daniel Haslam, who wielded the weapon outside a cemetery, and his accomplice, Thomas Knight.

Police later found drugs and mobile phones showing both defendants had been selling cannabis and cocaine when officers went to arrest them.

They then later blamed each other for getting themselves involved in crime.

Recorder Balraj Bhatia KC said: “This was a determined effort to assault a lone person with a weapon which has caused significant injuries. He was minding his own business and it is plain from all I have read and heard this was a completely unprovoked attack.

“Mr Haslam, with simply no explanation, went to the boot of his car and took out a pool cue, ran at the victim and hit him with a forceful blow.”

Lauren Fisher, prosecuting, said the attack took place in Sutton Road, Huthwaite, at around 1.40am on August 22, 2022.

She said the victim had walked to a petrol station to buy some goods and when he arrived he saw a Nissan Juke being driven by Haslam, in which Knight was a passenger.