Windsor soldier jailed for racial attack that left teen paralysed
Richard Cutcher • Published 30 Jul 2012 17:30
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INNOCENT VICTIM: Mo Bourner has been left in a wheelchair after suffering 90% brain damage in the racially motivated attack by Dacosta.
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A WINDSOR soldier, who handed an innocent teenager "a sentence of pain, frustration and anger for the rest of his life", has been jailed for six years.
Ashley Dacosta, based at Victoria Barracks, in Sheet Street, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court, in Sussex, today (Monday) after pleading guilty to racially motivated grievous bodily harm against 15-year-old Mo Bourner.
The 20-year-old originally pleaded not guilty to the attack in De La Warr Parade, Bexhill, in the early hours of Saturday, October 29, last year.
Dacosta struck Mo with a single punch, causing him to hit his head on a car as he fell to the ground, suffering 90% brain damage.
After the sentencing, a statement from the Bourner family read: "Ashley Dacosta handed our son, Mo, a sentence of pain, frustration and anger for the rest of his life.
"Any length of sentencing seems lenient, but our hope is that it will keep Ashley Dacosta from committing such a despicable crime again. We are relieved such a dangerous individual is no longer on our streets."
On sentencing Dacosta, Judge Kemp said recordings taken of Dacosta at Victoria Barracks revealed "racist and repugnant comments", that proved the attack was racially motivated.
Dacosta was sentenced to four years for GBH, 18 months for racially motivated GBH and 18 months for perverting the course of justice. The total term was reduced because he pleaded guilty to racially motivated GBH.
Jack Carrick, 25, of Manor Road, Bexhill, was sentenced to two years in prison for perverting the course of justice. He pleaded not guilty.
This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 30 Jul 12
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