A violent thug branded a “vicious animal” by a judge left two strangers fighting for their lives after unleashing a string of unprovoked street attacks across Rhyl and Chester.
Colin Campbell attacked five men over four months in 2025, even carrying out some of the assaults while on police bail, according to North Wales Live.
Each of Campbell's victims was unknown to him, but this didn't stop him striking most of them with devastating single punches and headbutting another. Many of his victims suffered fractures, with “grave injuries” caused to at least two of them, Mold Crown Court was told.
It was “lucky” nobody was killed, said Recorder Neil Owen-Casey, during a hearing on Tuesday (June 16), adding that one of the victims needed CPR from police and now has “little if any memory of his loved ones”. Another was left with “his life in the balance” due to the nature of his injuries.
The Attacks
Prosecuting, Elen Owen, told the court that the first attack took place on March 23, last year, as the victim was drinking at the Lorne Public House in Rhyl. Campbell had got into an argument with a woman outside of the pub, before the victim interjected, telling the thug “there's no need for that”. Campbell punched the man, who fell to the floor before getting back to his feet. He was met with another punch minutes later by Campbell, which rendered him unconscious. Onlookers placed him in the recovery position. The victim suffered an open wound to the back of the head, a fractured bone in the left skull, two brain bleeds and a fractured left ear cavity. In a statement, he described how he was admitted to hospital and at one point “his life was in the balance” and was told he may “have to be put in an induced coma” due to the damage done.
Campbell was apprehended by officers after the incident and later placed on bail, but he would soon after strike again, just a month later. This time, the second victim, who worked at a sporting fixture in Rhyl, was out with his partner and a work colleague. They were from South England and were in Tinkers Bar. CCTV showed the victim talking to people when Campbell “punched him hard to the head from the side”, which the victim described as “coming from nowhere”. He suffered fractures to his jaw, left eye socket and left cheekbone, which took weeks to recover. He has also suffered sight and hearing issues, leaving him “completely blind in my left eye at a moment's notice” in the seemingly unprovoked attack.
Campbell's terror campaign continued when, in the early hours of May 3, 2025, he approached another stranger who had just left a bar in Chester, telling him “I'm going to fight you”. The victim replied to him that nobody wants to fight, but Campbell headbutted him. Onlooking door staff sprinted to intervene, one of whom was punched in the side of the head by Campbell, leaving him with a cracked tooth, hairline fractures to two front teeth, with two teeth knocked out of place. The man who was headbutted suffered a scratched forehead, gashed ear and head bruise. Campbell was arrested and again bailed by police.
The final attack took place on July 12 of the same year, when Campbell attacked a father-of-five in Rhyl. The victim's wife was worried about him and went to see him at the Tinkers Bar at around midnight to take him home. His brother was also working on the door there. They left and were walking along Wellington Road when they encountered Campbell and a trio of his friends who “appeared raring for a fight”. Campbell and a friend confronted the victim before the former punched him in the face, causing him to fall backwards, striking his head against the ground, before the attackers ran off. The dad of three sustained catastrophic injuries, with officers forced to administer CPR at the scene before he was transferred to hospital and later to the Royal Stoke University Hospital for urgent brain surgery. He had suffered a fractured skull, extensive intracranial bleeding and a partially collapsed lung, and now requires permanent care, retaining “little if any memory of his loved ones”.
Court Proceedings
Campbell, of Gwynfryn Avenue, Rhyl, admitted charges including section 18 grievous bodily harm with intent, section 20 wounding and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was also convicted after trial of wounding the July victim.
Victims described the profound physical, psychological and emotional toll of Campbell’s violence. The family of the fifth man said the assault “would stay with them for the rest of their lives” and had destroyed his life, while others voiced fears that Campbell would continue to pose a danger to the public.
Campbell had previous convictions including for violence and criminal damage. Defending, Sarah Yates, said Campbell had a “chaotic” upbringing, had mental health problems and had been diagnosed with ADHD, causing him to act impulsively. He also wanted to try and improve his life in prison.
Referring to Campbell as a “vicious animal fuelled by alcohol”, the recorder said his “emerging insight” into his actions “had come far too late from preventing some of your victim's having life changing and life-altering injuries”. “You have caused such devastation with your fists alone, with singular blows,” the judge said, adding Campbell was “selfish, vicious and aggressive”.
Judge Owen-Casey said Campbell was assessed as a dangerous offender, but pulled back from imposing an extended sentence, believing the length of sentence was enough. He sentenced Campbell to a total of seven and a half years in prison. He will serve the “standard period” in custody, with the rest on licence. He must also pay a victim surcharge.
