Man Could Face Jail for Attack on Woman Outside Defector's Weld
VIP lifestyle manager barged victim to the ground breaking her leg
CCTV image of James Stephenson during the incident. Picture: Met Police
A man could face a spell in jail after injuring a woman outside a pub in Shepherd’s Bush.
Magazine editor May Woods was standing outside the Defector’s Weld by the junction of Wood Lane and Shepherd's Bush Green at around 2am on 5 December last year when she was violently shoved to the ground.
She had been sharing a cigarette with Jo Hunt, the girlfriend of 37-year-old James Stephenson who works for VIP lifestyle management firm Tatlocks.
For a reason that remains unexplained, he barged into Ms Woods with such force that she broke her leg when she fell and had to wait for two hours for an ambulance to arrive. Ms Hunt was also knocked to the ground but was uninjured.
Ms Woods’ boyfriend, who was DJing at the pub, punched Stephenson but he left shortly afterwards in a minicab having offered no apology.
He was arrested ten days later at his South Kensington home after an appeal was made to identify him following complaints from Ms Woods that the police were being slow to investigate the incident. His payment records confirmed he had been at the pub that evening.
Stephenson admitted to having drunk wine that evening at a friend’s birthday celebration. He claimed at his trial that he had slipped and accidentally collided with Ms Woods, it had been raining at the time of the incident, but the jury were not convinced of his explanation having viewed CCTV footage of the incident.
The Defector's Weld. Picture: Google Streetview
He was convicted of grievous bodily harm after a three-day trial and is currently free on bail but faces an anxious wait over the Christmas holidays with his sentencing due on 13 January.
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November 21, 2022