He left man permanently deformed in front of pub full of people - not one would tell police his name

A man suffered serious injuries when he was attacked in front of a bar full of people and has been left permanently deformed. But no-one came forward to police with the attacker's name, a court has heard.

The victim suffered a bleed on the brain along with a fractured nose, cheek, and eye socket as a result of what the assailant, Richard Clement, did, but a judge said it was a "sign of the times" that witnesses would not assist the police and instead adopt a "saw nothing, heard nothing, and will say nothing" attitude.

Swansea Crown Court heard the assailant was eventually identified by police and charged shortly before he was due to be released from prison where he was serving a sentence for bullying and assaulting a former partner. 

Matt Murphy, prosecuting, told the court the victim in the case spent the night of January 8 last year socialising in pubs in Port Talbot town centre before ending up in Jimmy's Bar in Station Road.

He said that as the complainant was stood alone at the bar he was approached by Clement who delivered "one forceful blow" to the head in an unprovoked attack. The blow sent the victim crashing to the ground and rendered him unconscious.

The court heard the complainant had no memory of the assault but did remember being woken up by bar security staff.

The prosecutor said the victim went initially to Neath Port Talbot Hospital but due to the severity of his injuries was told to go to Morriston Hospital A&E unit.

However, when advised of the waiting time to be seen in the department the victim made his way to the accident and emergency unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend where he was seen by doctors.

The man was found to have bleeding on the brain and fractures in his eye socket, cheek and nose, along with facial bruising and swelling.

The prosecutor said that, though the victim had no recollection of the attack, he was given the name of the assailant by people in the bar.

The court heard that the victim's nose was permanently deformed as a result of Clement's punch, and in an impact statement which was read to the court the complainant said he was awaiting further nasal surgery and said he had been left feeling reluctant to leave the house and now only went out to work or to his mother's by taxi.

Richard Clement, aged 37, of Gladys Street, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH) when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

He has previous convictions for offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), being drunk and disorderly, GBH, common assault, and criminal damage.

In 2021 he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to supply after being caught red handed selling the drug from his car in Port Talbot in the middle of the afternoon.

In May, 2025, Clement was sentenced to two years in prison for engaging in coercive or controlling behaviour and ABH in relation to his treatment of a former partner - on that occasion a judge branded him a "cowardly bully".

The court heard that two weeks after Clement carried out the Jimmy's Bar attack and before he had been identified as the assailant, the defendant was remanded into custody in relation to the controlling and coercive behaviour matter.

He was sentenced for that matter in May and it wasn't until December 11 last year - some two weeks before he was due to be released from prison - that he was charged via postal requisiton with the pub attack.

Hannah George, prosecuting, said the defendant had turned to drugs and alcohol to "supress his feelings" after finding the body of his father, and she said substance misuse lay at the heart of much of his offending history.

The barrister said the reality was that the defendant faced a stark choice about which direction his life took in the future, and said while serving his 2025 sentence he had spent his time constructively undertaking a number of courses. She added that the victim in the case had been known to the defendant and Clement was "truly sorry" for what he had done to him.

Judge Geraint Walters said it was a "sign of the times" that people in a bar would stand by as someone was punched to the ground and suffer a bleed on the brain but would then adopt a "saw nothing, heard nothing, and will say nothing" attitude rather then helping the police to identify the assailant.

The judge said the case underlined the dangers of excessive consumption of alcohol leading to someone being "punch happy when in drink" and the dangers of "one punch" incidents.

He told the defendant: "Those who throw their weight around by punching someone hard as you did run the serious risk that your luck will run out and you will end up killing someone - then your sentencing will be running into double figures. All it takes is one punch. Trust me, there are a lot of people paying the price for it".

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea, Clement was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was made subject to a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for 10 years.