A ‘feral mob’ who carried out a savage attack on an off-duty police officer during a ‘cruel and murderous’ rampage have been jailed.
The gang, aged between 14 and 20 – turned on Stuart Rochford at a railway station, chasing him through the streets and cornering him in a friend’s driveway.
In what a judge described as being ‘like a dystopian genre horror film’, Mr Rochford was punched, kicked, hit with glass bottles and bludgeoned with stones before being left for dead.
He needed surgery to rebuild his nose and a metal plate in his face following the attack, which has forced him to give up frontline policing after 19 years in the force.
At the time, two of the gang were subject to a combined 20 bail orders at time and also on curfews to keep them at home at night.
Four of the gang have now admitted to their part in the incident at Blantyre train station in Lanarkshire on March 30 last year.
A judge heard that the gang hunted down Mr Rochford after surrounding his car, culminating in him being savagely beaten in the driveway of a friend’s home.
Lauren Neary, now 18, and Robert Faulds, 20, pled guilty to an attempted murder charge at the High Court in Glasgow.
Lauren Neary admitted her part in the assault on Stuart Rochford at the High Court in Glasgow
Alec Fallon, 19, and a now 16 year-old boy – who cannot be identified – admitted assaulting Mr Rochford to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment as well as to the danger of his life.
Fallon was jailed for four years while Neary was locked up for six years.
The young attacker received 30 months in detention while Faulds was jailed for eight years.
Judge Lord Arthurson said the sentences were ‘considerably lesser tariffs’ due to sentencing guidelines that state those under the age of 25 should be punished more leniently.
The four had been spotted among a group on a train shortly before the attack.
They got off at Blantyre at around 9pm the same time Mr Rochford drove into the station.
Prosecutor Kath Harper KC said the gang ‘made no effort’ to get out of the way of his car and he ‘clipped’ one of them with his wing mirror at low speed.
Miss Harper said: ‘The group became aggressive and surrounded the car.
‘Mr Rochford got out and attempted to speak with them.
‘However, he was punched in the face. He managed to get back into his vehicle as the group began to kick and punch the car from all sides.’
He briefly stopped 100 yards away and three of the gang ran at him armed with bottles and a plank of wood.
Mr Rochford then ran to the nearby home of a friend.
Here he was cornered and Fallon shoved him to the ground before repeatedly kicking him.
Faulds walked up and hit Mr Rochford on the head with a glass bottle. Mr Rochford tried to defend himself and also get to the front door of the property.
Miss Harper added: ‘He was again surrounded and the assault continued – pushing, punching and kicking him as well as hitting him with rocks, stones and bottles.’
‘Neary stood over his head and, with some difficulty, lifted a large rock, threw it with force at his head as he lay motionless.
‘It struck him on the side of the head and he slumped to the ground.’
Neary was heard boasting: ‘I think I have just killed him. I am not going to lie.’
Mr Rochford needed a three-hour operation to rebuild his nose after part of it was ‘caved in’. A metal plate was also inserted into his face.
Miss Harper said: ‘He now cannot operate as a respond police officer or public order officer.’
The court heard Fallon already had 18 previous convictions and had been subject to a curfew order imposed just 11 days before the attack.
Faulds, latterly of Paisley, Renfrewshire, breached 10 bail orders and was also on a curfew.
Neary, of Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, had four previous convictions with the 16 year-old bailed by a sheriff three days before the assault.
Lord Arthurson said: ‘The narrative reads like a dystopian genre horror film.
‘Substantial custodial sentences are appropriate – you acted like a feral mob. Understand, these sentences are imposed are considerably less due to your ages and the young persons’ sentencing guidelines.’
He added: ‘Miss Neary, your throwing of a rock at your victim’s head as he lay motionless on the ground was plainly in and of itself a cruel and murderous act which frankly defies belief.
‘You were on any view a principal actor in this concerted crime.’
Lawyers defending the thugs told the court there was ‘genuine remorse’ for the incident.
But some were noted to fist bump each other upon leaving the dock.
