A former University of Northampton student who smashed a bottle over a man’s head at a party has been dealt with by the courts, nearly seven years after the attack.
Colin Ozoemena had been involved in a long-running feud with the victim for several years, when he attacked him at a beer festival on Park Campus in June 2006.
But despite a warrant immediately being issued for his arrest, Ozoemena was only traced when he flew back to the UK after a holiday in January 2012, and was arrested at the airport.
Northampton Crown Court heard Ozoemena also went by the name Jonathan Arthur and had given officers two different dates of birth to officers.
Ozoemena, aged 28, now of Back Church Lane, London, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was given a 40-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to pay £800 compensation to his victim.
Gareth Branston, prosecuting, told the court that Ozoemena had not got on with the fellow student “from day one”.
A number of incidents had happened before the glassing, including one where Ozoemena bit the victim in a nightclub, and was thrown out of a nightclub for punching him.
Mr Branston said: “The defendant always seemed to have an issue with him, and always made him feel on edge and scared.”
The bottling happened on June 10, 2006 at an all-day beer festival on the pavilion field.
The victim was posing for a photograph with friends and another man tried to get in on the picture. The victim asked him to move, at which point he punched him in the head.
Ozoemena then decided to get involved, and hit the victim over the head with a bottle.
Mr Branston said: “He was found with a lot of blood on his face, clothes and head.”
The victim was taken to Northampton General Hospital, where he needed six stitches in a 4cm laceration on his head.
Judge Richard Bray, who presided over the case, was exasperated by the defendant’s apparently uncertain past.
Colin Ozoemena had no previous convictions, but was forced to surrender his passport after being arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 2011. The police’s failure to catch Ozoemena irked Judge Bray, who said: “It’s no wonder judges like myself want to retire.
“What is really going on beneath the surface? What is his real name? These are the things I find more interesting that being hit over the head with a bottle.
“Only the defendant knows the truth in his heart of hearts, and I have no doubt he won’t reveal that to me.”
Sentencing Ozoemena, Judge Bray said: “Quite a lot of time and water has flown under the bridge, and quite what you have been doing since is a moot point. This is a serious matter, but I can deal with you in quite a different manner.”