Attack terror on bus

HORROR moment... the attack was caught on CCTV

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Yobs pounce on random passenger

vicious thugs beat a stranger who was alone on a bus and left him with a fractured skull — simply because he didn’t have a cigarette.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard how ringleader Michael Aspin (18), of Derwent Drive, Shaw, boarded the No.83 double-deck bus with two pals and sat beside Paul Gaskell (25), harassing him for a cigarette.

When Mr Gaskell said he didn’t have one, Aspin — who had been drinking — became aggressive and shouted: “Do you know who I am?”

One of Aspin’s friends, a 17-year-old father-of-one who cannot be named for legal reasons, tried to restrain him, but Aspin then lashed out at Mr Gaskell, punching him repeatedly.

The court was told how Mr Gaskell, who was hospitalised for three days after the attack, tried to defend himself by hitting out at Aspin. But Aspin, his teenage pal and Joshua Sumner-Stagg (18), of Suffolk Street, Werneth, dragged Mr Gaskell to the floor.

Aspin continued to rain down punches, and repeatedly kicked and stamped on his victim’s head, fracturing his skull and jaw in the process.

As Mr Gaskell tried to escape, he was dragged back by Aspin who continued to assault him before he was finally able to get off the bus. Yesterday, Aspin — who has previous convictions for attempted robbery and aggravated vehicle taking — smirked in the dock as he was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Sumner-Stagg was sent to a young offenders’ institute for 12 months. The third thug received a two-year community rehabilitation order, with supervision and a six-month night-time curfew. Both had pleaded guilty to assault. Mr Gaskell suffered from a pre-existing condition of epilepsy migraines but rarely suffered any symptoms before the attack at 10.30pm on January 18.

Following the attack he suffered from crippling headaches at least twice a week which left him bedridden and unable to move.

Mr Gaskell had also been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. The court heard that, had one of the blows hit his throat, it could have been fatal.

Speaking outside court, Mr Gaskell, a former bus cleaner, said, “I’m pleased with the result but it should never have happened in the first place.

“I was just thinking I need to do anything to get out. The attack has made me much more wary of wherever I am going, I’m always looking over my shoulder.

“I just don’t understand why they did it, what was the point?”

Detective Constable Ian Webb said, “This was a random and violent attack on a man who was doing nothing other than minding his own business.

“The level of assault was sickening with repeated stamps to the victim’s head while he was on the floor.

“The severity of this assault has been reflected in today’s sentence and I hope this will now help the victim move on from this appalling incident.”