Groom who broke bridesmaid's cheekbone in wedding day attack is jailed for 12 months
A groom has been jailed for punching two bridesmaids during a booze-fuelled wedding from hell.
John Campbell, 27, admitted he ‘flipped’ while high on booze and cocaine, punching Rachel Walsh, 23, and then flooring mother-of-two Samantha Dewar, 26.
His new bride Nicola, 26, wearing a white wedding dress with 6ft train, watched her best friend Samantha punched to the ground as her big day turned violent in the car park of the Masonic Hall in Macclesfield.
Jailing Campbell for 12 months, Judge Roger Dutton said he had punched Samantha with ‘some ferocity’ as it smashed her cheekbone.Prosecutor Jayne Morris told Chester Crown Court how the September 12 drink-fuelled wedding reception turned sour at around 1am in the car park.
Miss Dewar went out of the front entrance of the hall when she heard shouting and another bridesmaid, Rachel Walsh, ‘upset and crying’ after she had been punched by Campbell, who ‘looked angry and had his face screwed up’, the court heard.
Ms Walsh vomited and a male wedding guest tried to calm Campbell, an apprentice printer, in vain.
Prosecutor Ms Morris told the court:
Miss Dewar, who the court heard was also drunk, was sick in the car park and was later taken to Macclesfield District General Hospital before being transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital.
She was x-rayed and had a CT scan which revealed a fracture to her left cheekbone.
Surgeons operated and inserted a metal place inside her face, the court heard.
The court heard that the other bridesmaid, Miss Walsh, had not provided police with a statement about the attack on her.
When Campbell was arrested, he told police he had been run over by a car and admitted he had ‘a lot to drink’ and had snorted cocaine, the court was told.
He told officers he been having an argument with his new wife about driving a car and that he ‘flipped’.
He admitted he was annoyed that Miss Dewar was ‘getting involved’ and that he was ‘ashamed of himself’.
CCTV played in court showed Campbell punching Miss Dewar to the floor and his new bride running over. It also shows bride and groom arguing moments before.
The court heard Campbell had four previous convictions for ten offences, three for violence aimed at his ex-partner.
David Morton, defending, handed a letter to the judge which expressed ‘heartfelt regret’ for the defendant’s actions:
He told the court his client had suffered ‘some goading, saw red and lost control briefly’.
Campbell had later been knocked over by Miss Dewar’s husband’s 4x4 and was ‘set upon’ and required treatment in hospital, according to Mr Morton.
The court heard Miss Dewar’s husband was arrested although no charges were brought.
Campbell, of Queens Avenue in Macclefield, was jailed for 12 months after he admitted GBH.
Judge Roger Dutton told him:
The judge noted the defendant had three previous convictions for violence and said: