Kebab row assault man returned to UK for sentence Published duration 31 December 2019

image copyright Gloucestershire Constabulary/Gloucestershire News image caption Eugen-Laurentiu Rus was found working on a Danish pig farm

A man who fled the country to avoid sentencing for breaking a man's jaw in a row over a kebab has been returned to the UK.

Eugen-Laurentiu Rus, 30, was found working on a Danish pig farm and was brought back under an international arrest warrant.

Rus, a Romanian national of Grange Court, Northway, Tewkesbury, had failed to appear at Gloucester Crown Court for sentencing for assault in April.

He received a suspended jail sentence.

The court heard Rus left his kebab on the counter at Domino's Pizza in Cheltenham in January when he went outside to call a taxi.

Another man, Robert Gruszkiewicz, walked off with the kebab, which led to a row, and Rus then punched him, leaving Mr Gruszkiewicz with a broken jaw.

'Head in the sand'

Rus pleaded guilty before magistrates and was due to be sentenced at crown court on 16 April but he failed to appear to answer his bail and travelled to Romania.

Lloyd Jenkins, defending, said he had "put his head in the sand hoping that things would go away".

Rus was found working on a pig farm in Denmark on 8 December, was arrested and was returned to the UK on 20 December.

Judge Recorder Simon Levene said it was a "ridiculous assault".

"However I accept you didn't intend to hurt the victim," he said.

"But what does worry me is the fact that you ignored your bail conditions and ran away from this country's jurisdiction and travelled abroad.

"This was a serious breach of bail. You left the country for six months. You were brought back under an international arrest warrant.

"A lot of people went to the trouble of getting you back here."

He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for a year, ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,000 compensation to his victim.