Guernsey Press

Posted threatening Snapchat video after being arrested on suspicion of inflicting GBH

ARRESTED on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm on another, Connor Priaulx posted a threatening message aimed at the alleged victim on the internet.

Published
The Royal Court building, St James Street, which houses the Magistrate's Court. (25635529)

Though the injured man was not sent the message himself, he told police later that it was a reason why he did not wish to make any complaint.

The defendant took the message down within an hour, but it was up long enough for somebody to send it to the Guernsey Police Facebook profile.

Priaulx, 20, of Melwood, Balmoral Drive, Verte Rue, Vale, admitted sending a message of a menacing character, a Snapchat video, via the telecommunications network.

Prosecuting advocate Rory Calderwood told the Magistrate’s Court how, in the early hours of 1 June this year, officers were called to the area of Marks & Spencer at L’Islet where they found a man covered in blood and it was suspected that one of his eye sockets had been fractured.

The defendant and others were arrested at a house party nearby on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm on another.

Priaulx was released from police custody at about 9.30pm the same day.

At about 9.40am on 3 July, the Snapchat video was posted on Guernsey Police’s Facebook profile by a third party.

Advocate Calderwood said the prosecution could not say that the injured man had direct access to the video which was shown to the court, but he could have been shown it by somebody else.

In April last year Priaulx was sentenced to 18 months' youth detention by the Royal Court for supplying a controlled drug. The only other matters on his record were traffic related.

Advocate Liam Roffey said there was a marked difference in being a keyboard warrior to acting out in a violent manner.

His client had not sent the message to the injured man, but posted it to Snapchat, a closed group of about 20 people, in order to tell a story. The injured man had not been one of the group.

It had only been up for about an hour when he realised the error of his ways and took the message down by which time somebody had already captured it.

Advocate Roffey said the injured man had approached his client once since the incident and in a friendly manner.

Judge McKerrell said one explanation for that could be that he had done it because he was frightened and with a heavy heart and reluctantly. He was not making judgement on whether the defendant was the perpetrator of the assault but his words had been clearly directed at the injured man even if he was not part of the Snapchat group.

Priaulx also admitted breaching a post-release supervision order under the youth detention law by missing three appointments with his supervising officer.

Judge McKerrell said that was an aggravating factor.

The defendant had sought to defend his actions in an early interview which, said Judge McKerrell, beggared belief.

He did not like the police and held a view that they were out ‘to trap people'.

‘Let me tell you it was not the police who made those vile comments and chose to put them out there, or who chose to miss appointments with the Probation Service and you need to remove that chip from your shoulder,’ said Judge McKerrell. ‘In short, you blew it.’

Priaulx will serve 10 weeks' youth detention for sending the message with two weeks, consecutive, for missing appointments with the Probation Service.