A thug who punched two strangers in the head during two separate and unprovoked attacks has been convicted.

John Dalley, 22, ran up to both his victims, including one father who was taking his child to school, and thumped them in the face.

The assaults took place in Lordswood, Chatham, at the beginning of the year and left both men, and the young boy, anxious and scared to leave their homes.

Dalley appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court from custody to face trial, where he was found guilty of ABH and common assault.

The court heard how on January 5, at around midday, business owner Sarbjit Mattu was on his daily walk in Lordswood Lane when Dalley, of nearby Huckleberry Close, jogged towards him and struck him just under his eye and ran off.

Appearing as a witness, the 52-year-old told magistrates he was left in a state of shock after the random attack.

He visited A&E later in the day after ringing police with a “badly bruised and swollen” face.

‘I felt a heavy punch on the right side of my head...’

On March 3, a second victim, Mahbub Murshed, was walking his son to school along Gold Road at around 8.45am when he noticed an individual to his side and just behind them coming out of Huckleberry Close.

Moments later, the same man ran up behind him and landed a blow to the right side of his face.

CCTV footage of the attack was played to the court and showed a tall, slim, black man dressed in all black throwing a punch over Mr Murshed’s child’s head and hitting the father.

“I felt a heavy punch on the right side of my head, looked to my right and saw a man running off,” he explained.

Mr Murshed said at that moment his “brain stopped” and the attack has had an affect on him and his family, including being too anxious to leave his home or getting nervous if his wife and son have to walk somewhere on their own.

Both Mr Murshed and Mr Mattu identified Dalley when shown nine photos during a police line-up.

The court heard a statement from PC Woodthatcher who was on duty in March when he heard about reports of an attack believed to have been committed by Dalley.

At 12.40pm they arrived at the suspect’s house and forced entry after nobody answered the door.

The constable said Dalley was found “hiding” under his duvet covers and “pretending to be asleep”.

When the defendant took the stand, dressed in all black, he denied punching both men and claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

When pressed by prosecutor Adrian Crossley about what he was doing at home during those times, he replied: “Probably looking for a meal to eat.”

He claimed there had been a number of images and rumours about him going around the area at the time, but he didn’t punch anyone.

In PC Woodthatcher’s statement he described Dalley as having a “swollen right hand” when they arrested him at his home.

However, the young man said it wasn’t swollen and it was “just the way my hands look”. There was no image from officers to show the court.

Dalley was found guilty and sentenced to 26 weeks for both offences, to run concurrently, having already served 14 weeks in prison.

He was told to pay £930 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.