Factory worker from Scarborough jailed after brawl left two men with broken noses
A workplace brawl at a factory in Malton left two men with broken noses after they were set upon by three rival workers.
But only one of the attackers ended up in court as his two cohorts, among others, had fled to Romania.
Constantin Ardeleanu, 31, from Scarborough, was the only one who stayed behind to “face the music” and appeared at York Crown Court for sentence on July 18, after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.
Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said the vicious attack on the two named victims occurred in August 2021.
One of the men, a machine cleaner, was asked to clean on the upstairs floor of the factory where Ardeleanu and two of his colleagues were working.
Ardeleanu and his workmates aimed a volley of “foul language” at the victim and his colleague who tried to defuse the situation.
But then one of Ardeleanu’s workmates walked up to the victim and punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious.
Ardeleanu and one of his other workmates then knelt over the victim while he out cold, punching him in the head.
The victim’s colleague tried to pull Ardeleanu off his friend, but the three attackers then turned on him.
Ardeleanu punched him in the face, but he was able to escape and alert other staff members.
However, Ardeleanu and his two workmates then went back to the stricken victim lying on the floor and punched and kicked him.
The victim’s colleague who managed to escape suffered injuries including a broken nose.
Police and an ambulance were called out and he was treated for a deep wound to his lip and pain to his rib cage.
His friend was taken to Hull University Teaching Hospital for treatment to multiple injuries including a broken nose, a bleeding wound to his nostril, a broken tooth, swollen throat and bruising to his jaw.
The attack had had a profound effect on him.
Ardeleanu, of St Thomas Street, Scarborough, told police that he and his two colleagues were unhappy that factory supervisors had brought the victim to work alongside them and claimed initially that he had acted in self-defence.
He initially denied the attacks and was ultimately arrested on a court bench warrant, but ended up pleading guilty to both offences a day before his trial was due to be held.
He had been remanded in custody since then.
Defence barrister Jordan Millican said there had been “bad blood” between Ardeleanu’s group and the two victims.
Ardeleanu, a married father-of-three who was assisted by an interpreter in court, was the only one of the three attackers who had stayed in the UK “to face the music”.
“The other (attackers) have fled and…four or five others…not directly involved in the conflict have fled and gone back to Romania,” added Mr Millican.
Judge Sean Morris told Ardeleanu: “This was a multi-handed attack.
"You didn’t start it, but it was thoroughly unpleasant.
“When it’s three on one and the boot is going in when somebody is on the ground, appropriate punishment can only be met by an immediate custodial sentence.”
Ardeleanu received a 14-month jail sentence, but he will only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence, less the time he had served on remand.