A THUG who brutally assaulted a fellow bus passenger was caught after he left his can of Dr Pepper behind.

Jake James, 29, had repeatedly punched his innocent victim and spat at him during the “appalling” attack as it left Blackwood station.

After the defendant got off at his stop in Gilfach, the quick-witted complainant took the can of pop he had been drinking from to Bargoed police station.

He also gave officers his T-shirt which had James’ salvia on it after spitting at him.

Detectives were able to link the defendant to the crime with forensic evidence after they retrieved his DNA.

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Prosecutor Harriet Ealden said James sat opposite his victim, a stranger, and started complaining to him that the bus driver had a “bad attitude”.

When a woman was refused entry on the bus for having the wrong ticket, the defendant handed him a £10 note and told him to pay her fare.

After he refused to take the money, James punched him in the back of the head.

“He said to him, ‘You interfere with kids,’” Miss Ealden told Newport Crown Court.

“The defendant then punched him several times to the side of the head and to the face before he spat at him.

“He started calling him a nonce before he said sorry and tried to shake the victim’s hand before he punched him again.

“As he was leaving the bus, the defendant said, ‘The next time I see you, I’m going to kill you.’”

The court was shown a graphic picture of the injury the man had suffered to his ear which needed to be drained of blood at a hospital.

He had to undergo surgery and has been left permanently disfigured after losing parts of the ear.

James, of Reform Street, Pontlottyn, Caerphilly pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The offence took place at around 3pm on the afternoon of Saturday, August 13, 2021.

The court was told that the defendant is a serving prisoner who was jailed for domestic violence last year.

Rosamund Rutter representing James said: “He is ashamed of his actions.”
His barrister added how her client’s mental health had begun to “deteriorate” following the death of his father.

The defendant began abusing drink and drugs as a result.

The judge, Recorder Celia Hughes, told James: “Serious physical injury was caused to your victim who was a stranger to you.

“You also spat at him during an unprovoked assault in a public place.

“This was an appalling attack and there was absolutely no justification for it in any way.

“You present a risk to others.”

She jailed him for 14 months.