Intoxicated man who knocked woman out with 'haymaker punch' in Hartlepool sentenced at Teesside Crown Court

Mason Caddick, 26, who was described as “intoxicated”, lashed out at the victim in an assault in the town’s Victoria Road which was captured on CTTV.

Teesside Crown Court heard it showed Caddick in a verbal argument with a man before a woman pushed him a couple of times.

He responded by punching her once to the face which left her lying unconscious in the road.

Dan Walker, prosecuting, said: “The complainant was bleeding heavily from the mouth.

“The defendant left the scene and a witness described how a male approached the complainant and a punch had been delivered.

“It caused her to fall to the floor and be rendered unconscious.”

The victim lost a tooth and suffered fractures to her leg and ankle.

In an impact statement read in court, she said she asked Caddick for a cigarette, saying: “The next thing he punched me and knocked me out.

“I woke up in hospital. I was terrified not knowing what had happened to me.”

Judge Deborah Sherwin said: “It’s obvious she was very distressed by what happened to her.”

Caddick, of High Street, Willington, near Crook, admitted wounding with intent in the incident which dated back to October 2022.

Martin Scarborough, mitigating, said his client was in “a cycle of binge-drinking” at the time but is now in a much better place.

Judge Sherwin imposed a nine-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, with probation and six months of alcohol treatment.