X factor teen misses jail

A FORMER X Factor hopeful has again avoided being locked up for his part in a “happy slap” attack.

Jobless Richard Peachey, 19, was given a 10-month term in a young offender institution, suspended for a year, last July after pleading guilty to affray.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how victim Paul Thomas, a haemophiliac, was left with a broken jaw and bruising after he was assaulted by Peachey, three other men and a schoolboy, in his own home.

Peachey, of Baglan Street, Pentre, Rhondda, was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

But Cardiff Crown Court yesterday heard how he skipped two days of work, breaching the suspended sentence order.

Prosecutor Rebecca Oakley said: “He failed to attend on November 24, 2007, and March 28.”

Judge Philip Richards could have activated the suspended sentence immediately and sent dad-to-be Peachey to custody.

But, after hearing Peachey had completed 127 hours of the order and was attending a telesales job interview today, he showed the teenager mercy.

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