A 23-year-old man from Luton has been jailed for three and a half years for an attack which put a member of staff at Harrow on the Hill underground station in hospital for 12 days.
Viorel Schiopu of Lansdowne Road, Luton, pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court to Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and Affray.
The 61-year-old victim was working at Harrow on the Hill Underground station shortly after midnight on 21 May when he was approached by Schiopu who spoke to him briefly before pushing through the barrier.
Schiopu threw the contents of a packet he was eating from at the victim and walked away.
A short time later Schiopu returned to the ticket hall. CCTV shows him having a conversation with his back turned to the victim, before suddenly turning around and throwing a violent punch to his head.
This caused the victim to fall backwards to the ground and instantly fall unconscious.
Another member of staff heard a loud bang and ran over to find him, while Schiopu calmly left the station around a minute later.
The victim was rushed to a Major Trauma hospital where he was diagnosed with a bleed on the brain, a fractured skull and multiple facial fractures.
Later that day BTP released CCTV images of Schiopu led to him handing himself into police the next day (22 May).
The victim remained in hospital for 12 days and is still slowly recovering from the injuries, according to British Transport Polie.
In a victim impact statement, he said: “To say the effects of the assault have been profound would be an understatement. It has changed everything, and my life is very different to what it used to be before… it feels like my freedom has been robbed from me.”
Detective Constable Tony Gittins said: “This was a truly appalling and unprovoked attack on a member of staff simply trying to do their job, and they are very sadly continuing to suffer the severe physical and mental effects of what happened to this day.
“Every member of staff should be able to go to work without fear of violence and we will always take a zero tolerance approach to such offending. This is clear from our swift and thorough investigation which has resulted in Schiopu being jailed just over two months after the incident – where he will now have time to reflect on the consequences of his actions.
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