Sheffield drug dealer broke barman's jaw with single punch in city nightclub

Josh Bennett began messing about with an empty glasses bin at the Corporation nightclub, on Milton Street, at 1.30am, on October 1, 2019, said prosecutor Huw Edwards.

When he was told to stop by the barman pushing it, Bennett punched him in the jaw.

The barman hit him back and Bennet was thrown out of the club, Mr Edwards said. But he was recognised by another member of staff.

His victim needed to have a metal plate fitted and a tooth removed. In a statement, the man said the attack made him lose confidence and transfer to an office job.

Bennet was seen sniffing a white substance by a police officer on Carver Street, in the city centre, at 3.40am, on Saturday December 22, 2018.

When the officer grabbed his arm, Bennett dropped a bag containing 2.01 grams of cocaine, and a further 3.31 grams in ten bags were discovered at the police station, hidden in his underpants.

A search of his home revealed scales and a 4.14 gram rock of cocaine, wrapped in clingfilm, as well as evidence of drug dealing on his mobile phone. The cocaine, valued at £720, was found to be of 90 per cent purity.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he has previous convictions for attempted robbery, when he was 15, in 2010, and battery, in 2015, when he bit someone's nose in a bar.

Tim Gaubert, mitigating, said Bennett had waited for more than two years for the drug case to come to court.

He received “intensive therapy” for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and was “impulsive by nature.”

"He is extremely remorseful," said Mr Gaubert, "He had been taking drugs quite consistently as a young man.

"He would sell to friends and acquaintance to pay for his own drugs."

Bennett, 25, of Hunter House Road, Sharrow, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

On Thursday, Judge David Dixon sentenced him to a total of three years in prison.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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