‘Thuggish’ Hazlemere brothers beat up man near Beaconsfield Station

Aaron Knight, 25, and Joshua Knight, 27, both of Penn Road, Hazlemere, assaulted and verbally abused Christopher Bowen near Beaconsfield Station in August 2019.

The Knight brothers, who both work for their father’s Wycombe-based firm, Steve Knight Construction, were set to go on trial on Wednesday morning, but both made last-minute guilty pleas for charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Both men were sentenced to carry out unpaid work in the community for their crimes.

The court heard from prosecutor Alexandra Kettle-Williams how at around midnight on August 25, 2019, the victim Mr Bowen was walking near Beaconsfield Station, on his way home from a party.

Mr Bowen suffered injuries to his face in the attack

On his walk, Mr Bowen encountered two men – one of whom was Aaron Knight – who asked him if he had any “king-sized” Rizlas. When Mr Bowen replied that he did not smoke, Knight started verbally abusing him and threw a punch, which the victim managed to deflect with his arms, before the second man convinced Knight to calm down.

Mr Bowen walked away, but quickly realised he had dropped his keys during the commotion. The victim, who walked with a walking stick due to recent health issues, retraced his steps to go and get his keys back. He left his walking stick leaning on a fence, intending to show the men that he did not mean them any harm.

The court heard how when Mr Bowen returned to where the men were standing, Aaron Knight began attacking him again, as well as hurling insults at him, calling him a “cripple”, and that an “unpleasant scuffle” took place as Mr Bowen attempted to fight off his assailant.

At this stage Aaron Knight’s brother Joshua, who had been eating a kebab nearby, arrived on the scene with a group of unidentified males. Seeing his brother and Mr Bowen exchanging blows, Joshua Knight dived in and started attacking Mr Bowen. The other men in the group also joined in the attack.

The victim, who is a professional potter and artist, feared he would lose his ability to work during the attack

Ms Kettle-Williams said: “While this was going on Mr Bowen was in fear for his safety, but a man that he knew from a nearby taxi rank came and broke up the group and told them to leave him alone.”

The prosecutor then proceeded to read from a victim personal statement from Mr Bowen, which said: “I used to be very confident and outgoing, but this random attack has left me feeling vulnerable and nervous in public.”

The court heard that during the attack Mr Bowen suffered abrasions and bruises to his knee and elbow and cuts to his hand and lip, which took several weeks to heal.

Ms Kettle-Williams added that Mr Bowen, who is a potter and ceramist by trade, feared that he would not be able to carry on his work due to the injuries he suffered.

In mitigation, defence barrister for Joshua Knight, Genevieve Moss, argued that her client had not been aware that Mr Bowen needed a walking stick because the victim had put it down before he arrived on the scene.

Ms Moss added: “Joshua Knight heard his brother being called an offensive word, he charged in without assessing the situation. He had no idea Mr Bowen walked with a cane.

“He deeply regrets that he failed to appreciate that Christopher Bowen was not the threat that he thought, he’s deeply remorseful and ashamed.”

Ms Moss told the judge that her client had no criminal record and that he had not been in trouble with the police since the incident in 2019.

She added that following this conviction, Knight will have to give up on his dream career.

Ms Moss said: “He did have aspirations to join the police force and that is the tragedy of this story, because he’s had to say goodbye to that dream.”

Defending her client, Ms Moss suggested that the victim Mr Bowen “gave as good as he got” by shouting verbal abuse at his assailants and has “over-egged the pudding” when describing the impact the assault had on him – something that Judge Geoffrey Payne took serious issue with.

Judge Payne said: “That is a dangerous line. He is heavily outnumbered, he is approached by a group, the first swing is taken at him, he didn’t want to be there, and his injuries took some time to heal.”

Mr Bowen suffered mentally as well as physically following the attack

Representing Aaron Knight, barrister Patrick Wise-Walsh conceded that his client attacked Mr Bowen despite knowing he was using a walking stick and told the court that the younger brother was sorry for his actions.

Mr Wise-Walsh added that his client is a “working man” with ambitions of taking over the operation of the family business, Steve Knight Construction.

He said: “He works alongside his father, and his father plans to retire in the next five years, and the idea is that his sons will step into that position and take over from their father.

“If that is the case, they will have to show they have responsibility and that trust can be restored in them.

“He has this clear path ahead of him.”

Sentencing the two men, Judge Geoffrey Payne was severe with his remarks.

He said: “This was a thoroughly unpleasant and thuggish assault on a man coming home from a night out, minding his own business.

“Aaron Knight, you put Mr Bowen in fear and now he is nervous in public places. This was utterly disgraceful behaviour; you were picking on him and it was utterly unjustified.

“Joshua Knight, you came in to help your brother, but you could have realised that Mr Bowen was not the aggressor and did not pose the threat that you thought.”

Judge Payne added that the pair’s only saving grace was that they had behaved well in the years since the attack, and he told them that he would have sent them to prison had they been found guilty at a trial.

As well as sentencing Aaron Knight to 200 hours of unpaid work and Joshua Knight to 140 hours of unpaid work, Judge Payne also ordered them to pay £1,200 each in court costs and £300 each in compensation to Mr Bowen.

Before sending them away, Judge Payne added: “My sincere hope for both of you is that you will carry on being law-abiding people that I won’t see in court in the future.”

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