A THUG subjected a complete stranger to an unprovoked one-punch attack which left him with a life-changing brain injury.

Callous Liam McConnell, 29, simply walked away from his victim after punching him to the ground in Whitehaven town centre - for no reason other than he was trying to get into a taxi.

The victim's life was saved by life-saving emergency surgery, but his serious head injury - sustained as he fell to the ground - left him with a devastating injury and disability.

The man is now unable to walk, talk or care for himself. McConnell, of no fixed address, who had a history of petty offending, was today jailed for 27 months at Carlisle Crown Court.

He had earlier admitted causing the man grievous bodily harm.

As he passed sentence, Judge Michael Fanning remarked on how McConnell punched the man simply because he had walked towards the taxi he was about to get out of.

It happened in the early hours of Sunday 14 April 2024.

McConnell had travelled in the taxi with another man and when they stopped at the corner of George Street leading to Church Street in Whitehaven, the defendant got out of the taxi.

The victim, having seen he the taxi stop, stepped towards it, thinking he could use it to get home. Inexplicably, the court heard, McConnell became aggravated and aggressive at this.

He told the victim:  “What the f--- do you think you’re doing?” The man replied that he was “just trying to get home”.

It was at this point that McConnell attacked the man, delivering a single punch to his head, knocking the unsuspecting victim flat onto his back, his head hitting the concrete floor.

Despite the man clearly being in need of urgent medical attention, McConnell simply walked away.

An ambulance was called and the man was rushed to hospital – first West Cumberland Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where he underwent emergency brain surgery after suffering a subdural haematoma.

After the sentencing hearing, Detective Constable Benjamin Agnew said: “This was a completely unprovoked assault which has left the victim with injuries that will impact the rest of his life.

“Time and again we see the life-altering impact that a single punch can have – not just on the victim but the person throwing the punch.”

* This account is based on a release from Cumbria Police. For a full report of the court hearing, see next week's Whitehaven News.