Issue 480 – Two Westbury residents sentenced for violent attack

A man and a woman from Westbury have been sentenced after pleading guilty to a public order offence following a violent attack in Trowbridge.

Luke Withey, aged 22 from Edward Street, Westbury, and 18-year-old Kelsey Marie Ayliffe from Queens Road, Westbury, appeared at Chippenham Magistrates Court on Thursday 27th January, where they were both sentenced to 6 weeks imprisonment suspended for a year. Luke Withey was also ordered to do 60 hours’ unpaid work and charged £80 costs whilst Kelsey Ayliffe was ordered to attend a conflict resolution course and alcohol workshop and was also charged £80 costs.
The incident happened in the early hours of Thursday 11th November 2010 in Duke Street, Trowbridge. Following a dispute with a man in the town centre, Withey and Ayliffe then chased him up the road where he was hit to the ground and violently attacked. Police then arrived at the scene to stop the attack.
Although a complaint of assault was not made to police, both were charged with a Section 4 Public Order offence.
Superintendent Gavin Williams said, “This was a nasty, prolonged and completely unjustified attack. This sort of incident has no place in any community and as a force we continue to work hard alongside partner agencies in a continuing effort to tackle and prevent this type of crime.
“Our latest figures show us that between April 2010 and December 2010, violent crime across Wiltshire fell by 7.1% compared to the same period the previous year, but we will not become complacent and we will continue to work hard to drive down this figure even further.
“CCTV was vital in securing a conviction in this case and shows how effective a tool it can be in tackling crime.
“Finally, I would encourage any victims of this sort of incident to report it to police. You can be assured that we will fully investigate incidents reported to us and working with our colleagues in the CPS, we will always look to take appropriate action against those responsible.”