‘Loutish’ soldier escapes prison sentence because he’s 'too important to the army' despite string of convictions

Lashed out just five months after he had been in court over hitting a police officer



Wilkins was involved in a drunken altercation but avoided a jail sentence



A soldier who battered two men outside a pub escaped prison - because he was deemed 'too important' to the Army.

Private Daryl Wilkins, 22, lashed out at the men in a drunken rage just FIVE months after he walked free from court for hitting a police officer.

Wilkins, from Nuneaton, who has a string of previous convictions for violent assaults, admitted affray after he punched a man and tried to stamp on his head.

But he was let off again after a judge ruled he was 'too important' as a gunner in the Army.

Judge Trevor Faber even admitted he was being 'far too lenient' when he sentenced Wilkins to just 95 hours of unpaid work at Warwick Crown Court.

He also ordered him to pay £1,500 court costs.

Judge Faber told Wilkins: 'By rights, you ought to be going to prison. That is what you richly deserve.

'Not very long after being given a chance by the magistrates, you are behaving in an identical way.

'People are sick and tired when they go out at night and they are confronted by the sort of thing we have seen, you behaving in a loutish, thuggish way because you can’t control your drinking.

'I am probably being far too lenient, but I am impressed by what you do in the Army and your importance to your unit.'

The court heard Wilkins launched an unprovoked attack on two men outside the Bilberries pub in Nuneaton, Warks., on July 9 last year.

CCTV footage captured Wilkins having an argument with his pregnant girlfriend before she stormed back into the pub.

The judge at Warwick Crown Court let Wilkins off despite previous convictions including assaulting a police officer



Wilkins then crossed the road and approached two men before punching one of them in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Wilkins tried to stamp on the man’s head but was hauled back by the victim’s friend.

A fight broke out and the two men suffered cuts and bruises.

A police car arrived and when Wilkins was arrested he had blood on his hands and knuckles.

Warren Stanier, prosecuting, told the court Wilkins had a string of convictions for violent assaults.

He said: 'The defendant was given a caution in 2008 following a fight with fists and feet outside a Nuneaton nightclub, and in June 2010 he was given a community sentence for assaulting his partner and her mother.

'Then in February last year he was back in court on two occasions, once for assaulting a police officer and once for two assaults in Bilberries pub, for which magistrates gave him a community sentence with 95 hours of unpaid work.'

Judge Faber told Wilkins: 'I am just persuaded to take the only course I can, which is to punish you by making you do unpaid work.'

Daryl Wilkins had been a private in the First Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers for six years.



Wilkins was due to go to Canada for pre-training before being deployed to Afghanistan next year.



RRF Sgt Philip Anderson told Tuesday’s hearing Wilkins was a 'considerable asset' to his unit.



He told the court the loss of one gunner out of four vehicles would be a 'massive shortfall.'

