Thug caught attacking Ibis receptionist for not giving him hotel room

2022-09-30

Moment thug was caught on CCTV beating Ibis hotel receptionist and stamping on his head after he told him there were no rooms left

Joshua Leatherland attacked receptionist who told him there were no rooms
He had arrived in the early hours with a woman and tried to bribe employee
Leatherland has seven previous convictions and was jailed for two years

A violent thug was caught on CCTV brutally attacking a hotel receptionist who told him there were no rooms available.

Joshua Leatherland, 23, demanded a bed for the night at the Ibis hotel in Newport, Gwent on July 16 after turning up in the early hours with a young woman.

He offered the on-duty receptionist, Thundiyil Abraham, a £100 bribe and said ‘he would not take no for an answer’ but was repeatedly told there were no rooms available.

Leatherland flew into a fit of rage and CCTV shows he repeatedly stomped on Mr Abraham’s head, punched him and kicked him while he was on the ground.

Mr Abraham was taken to hospital with a hairline fracture to a rib.

Joshua Leatherland, 23, demanded a bed for the night at the Ibis hotel in Newport, Gwent on July 16 after turning up in the early hours with a young woman

The victim then travelled for a pre-booked holiday to India where he had no choice but to spend hundreds of pounds on his own medical treatment.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Leatherland accused Mr Abraham of being a ‘liar’ and ‘shouted at him before physically assaulting him’.

Prosecutor Ffion Tomos said: ‘He punched him to the face and Mr Abraham fell to the floor.

‘Whilst on the floor he stamped on his head on more than one occasion while he lay helpless on the floor.

‘His female companion said to him, ‘Don’t stamp on his head.”

Leatherland then turned on the woman, Tia Wills, before pushing her over in the foyer of the hotel.

Ms Tomos said Leatherland was ‘aggressive and abusive’ when officers arrived at the scene.

‘There was blood on his shoes and he tried to lick it off,’ she said.

Leatherland, of Newport, Gwent, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mr Abraham and assaulting by beating against Miss Wills.

The court heard he had seven previous convictions for actual bodily harm, assaulting an emergency worker, battery and affray.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: ‘This was frankly a cowardly attack entirely in character for you.

‘Mr Abraham was minding his own business, he was in work trying to support his family.

‘Simply being told no seemed to cause you to launch an entirely unprovoked attack.’

Leatherland was jailed for two years and eight months.

He was made the subject of a 10-year restraining order and banned from visiting the Ibis hotel for the same period.

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