Tristan Turner, 27, and his passengers ambushed their victim and assaulted him as well as damaging his car, over a stolen e-bike.
Tristan Turner, 27, attacked a man in a car with a baseball bat in front of horrified onlookers.(Image: South Wales Police)
An “animalistic” group of men sprang out of a car and attacked a driver with a baseball bat before smashing up his vehicle in front of screaming bystanders. The attack was believed to be a planned ambush after the instigator wished to take revenge over his cousin’s stolen e-scooter.
Tristan Turner, 27, and three of his passengers pursued a Ford Fiesta driven by Coley Whatley in Cardiff on June 12 into a housing estate and when the car stopped, the men wearing face coverings pounced out of the defendant’s vehicle and set upon Mr Whatley and his passengers.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday was played footage of the ambush, which took place in Clos Glas Llwch, St Mellons, as neighbours and children watched on in horror. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
Mr Whatley’s passengers ran off but he was trapped inside as Turner grabbed a baseball bat and began hitting and jabbing at the victim through the car window.
There were screams and the sound of children crying on the footage as Mr Whatley attempted to escape from the Fiesta.
But Turner continued the violence and began swinging the bat at the victim’s car and knocked his wing mirrors off, as another man grabbed a piece of wood and used it to hit the car.
Mr Whatley managed to get out of the car and entered a house as the defendant and his associates got back in his car and drove off.
Prosecutor Byron Broadstock said the victim suffered a bruise to his right eyebrow, bruising and swelling to his jawbone, superficial wounds to the back of his right hand and a wound to his face.
Turner, of Western Valley Road, Rogerstone, Newport, was later arrested after he was identified on the footage and he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray.
The court heard he has 26 previous convictions for offences including battery, robbery, drug offences and possessing a bladed article.
In mitigation, Leah Pollard said her client denies it was a planned assault and claimed it was spontaneous. The motivation for the assault was regarding the defendant’s cousin’s stolen e-bike.
It was said Turner began using drugs in his teenage years and fell in with the wrong crowd which led to a downward spiral and him supplying drugs in order to feed his own habit.
Sentencing, Judge Vanessa Francis said: “(This was) horrific, animalistic, and there was no need of it. You did this in a public street with everyone living there onlooking and children watching. You can hear them screaming in the video.”
Turner was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment.
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