Martin Cheung receives 25 months after pleading guilty to GBH

Grandad Andrew McWilliam was left with a fractured skull and bleeding in his brain after he was attacked outside the Royal Hotel on Ramsden Dock Road, Barrow, in 2021.

His injuries were so severe that a consultant neurologist said he would be left with symptoms such as headaches and fatigue for an 'indefinite period of time.' 

32-year-old Martin Cheung, formerly of Island Road, admitted GBH and was jailed for 25 months - half of which will be served on licence.  

Andrew McWilliam (Image: Submitted)

His son said in a statement to the court: "Before this assault, my father was fine and well. He would live independently. He worked as a funeral director but stopped to care for my mother. He was of sound mind. 

"When he got back he was incapable of going up the stairs. His speech was slurred, it was never like that before the assault.

"He was scared of going home in case he was attacked. It is now necessary for my father to have carers.

"The incident has taken ten years off my dad's life." 

Preston Crown Court heard Mr McWilliam was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in October 2022, which his family argued was a consequence of the attack as he had no issues with his mental health before this. 

Consultant nurse Claire Benson, from Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust, told the family at the time of Mr McWilliam being sectioned that his assault was a likely factor in his mental health deterioration. 

The court saw CCTV footage of Mr McWilliam struggling with a cashpoint at 8.15pm on December 4, 2021. 

Prosecutor Paul Cummings said that Mr McWilliam's recollection of the event was vague but he remembered not being able to see the ATM very well due to not having his contact lenses on.

Appearing from the shadows, Cheung and another man spotted Mr McWilliam from a distance and crossed the street. This man filmed the attack on his phone, which was also played in court.

Despite Mr McWilliam not provoking Cheung, he shouted at him: "Come on, come on, you think you're tough mate come on" before adopting a boxing stance and starting to punch him, the court heard.

An eyewitness statement read out by Mr Cummings said: "I never saw the victim try to harm the male, he was just bumbling around in a drunken manner."

Judge Mr Recorder Daniel Prowse accepted that the victim did not even attempt to defend himself.  

Cheung's final punch connected with the side of Mr Cumming's head, and he fell into the road. The statement continued: "He fell like a cartoon - he fell with force. I watched his head bounce off the road." 

Cheung and the man left Mr McWilliam lying in the road. After around a minute, during which Mr McWilliam made no movement, people came to assist him. 

Mr McWilliam was taken to A&E and then to Preston Royal Infirmary for specialist brain treatment. According to the victim impact statement written by his son, Mr McWilliam discharged himself from the hospital because he was worried about his wife's care, who was suffering from dementia. 

Cheung was wearing grey sportswear and clutched at his heart throughout the hearing. He had his head in his hands before sentencing. 

Mitigating, his defence solicitor Joe Allman said Cheung had recently lost his child before the incident, and since then had lost another child and his wife. Cheung previously had a job at BAE.