A violent thug on a ‘last and final chance’ after leaving a student with brain damage in a brutal attack has been spared prison – again.
Michael Murray, 22, was three years ago given a last chance to change his ways after being part of a gang who savagely beat German exchange student Daniel Ezzedine in Canterbury, Kent, with a bag of bricks.
But he has avoided a jail term again despite being hauled before a crown court judge for glassing a man in a pub.
He was even handed back his XL Bully dog at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday when his barrister successfully argued that Murray was ‘a fit and proper person’ to own one.
The lenient sentence has incensed shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who has urged Attorney General Richard Hermer to intervene as he declared: ‘Career criminals must be locked up.’
Murray, from Canterbury, was part of a gang of nine people who in June 2019 brutally beat then 17-year-old Mr Ezzedine.
He requires round the clock care and had to have part of his brain removed and metal plates inserted into his skull.
His brother said doctors initially gave him a 30 per cent chance of survival after he was beaten in the city centre.
Michael Murray, 22, appeared at Canterbury crown court (pictured in 2019) where he was spared jail again for glassing a man, despite previously being part of a gang that left student Daniel Ezzedine with brain damage
He was even handed back his XL Bully dog (stock image pictured) at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday when his barrister successfully argued that Murray was ‘a fit and proper person’ to own one.
The lenient sentence has incensed shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick who has urged Attorney General Richard Hermer to intervene as he declared: ‘Career criminals must be locked up’
Murray appeared at Canterbury crown court just before Christmas for the pub attack, as well as threatening a neighbour and damaging the home he shared with his grandparents.
Despite his 13 prior convictions and his own grandfather raising fears about what his grandson might do when high on drugs and carrying knives, a judge gave him another chance to become ‘a useful member of the community’.
Prosecutor Lucy McGarr described how on April 6 last year, Murray had glassed a man at the Seven Stars bar in Canterbury, reported Kent Online.
His home was raided by police ten days for an unrelated matter where officers discovered he did not have an exemption certificate for his pet dog.
On April 19 Murray appeared before magistrates for six offences relating to drugs, violence and driving matters. He was given a suspended sentence order.
But with in a matter of weeks the yob threatened to ‘smash in’ his neighbour’s face while wielding two knives, and broke two doors and a window at his grandparents’ home in St Gregory’s Road.
On May 29 he threw a five-litre can of paint across his grandparents’ garden, damaging tiles, with his grandfather saying he appeared to be on drugs.
Murray was arrested and pleaded guilty to two offences of affray, one of criminal damage, one of possessing a fighting dog and breach of an SSO.
In a victim impact statement, his grandfather, Michael Murray Snr, said: ‘We do not want him to live here. He needs to leave home. We don’t want to put up with his behaviour.’
But his barrister James Burke urged for Murray to be given a community-based punishment, arguing that he had matured while on remand in jail serving what was the equivalent of a 14-month sentence.
Daniel Ezzedine (pictured) was left fighting for his life after he was attacked in Canterbury, Kent,
He requires round the clock care and had to have part of his brain removed and metal plates inserted into his skull
Mr Burke said Murray was now drug-free, had ‘some understanding’ of his problems with ‘positive future goals’, and was in a stable two-year relationship.
Judge Sarah Counsell agreed to spare Murray jail saying there was a realistic chance of rehabilitation ‘if you reduce your drug use and acquire problem-thinking skills’.
Imposing a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months, Judge Counsell said: ‘It is perhaps a tougher sentence for you to suspend the sentence and give you the opportunity of developing into the young man you are capable of developing into.’
Former Tory leader candidate Mr Jenrick, though, didn’t agree, and said Murray should have been jailed.
He told The Telegraph: ‘He had 13 prior convictions, including causing brain damage. Three years ago he was given a “last and final chance” by a judge. Yet he’s spared jail, again. Career criminals must be locked up.’
