A 19-year-old man has received a six year prison sentence for spraying a group of people with a corrosive substance.
Shortly before 1.15am on Saturday 9 November 2024, a group of people were involved in a disturbance outside the Northern Belle pub in Mansion Street, which runs between Fort Road and The Parade.
During the incident, Ronnie Tudor sprayed others in the group with a liquid, believed to have been a strong alkali, causing four people to suffer reddening and irritation to their faces or chest. One man suffered second degree burns to his mouth while pub landlord Jonathan Wood needed hospital treatment after the substance affected his eyes, leaving him temporarily without vision.
Officers, alongside Kent Fire and Rescue, swiftly attended and seized the bottle which contained the substance used and provided care for the victims. A full investigation was launched by Kent Police which resulted in Tudor’s arrest two days later.
Ronnie Tudor, 19, of St Luke’s Avenue, Ramsgate, was charged on Tuesday 12 November with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of a corrosive substance (ammonia) in a public place, and administering a noxious thing with intent to injure or aggrieve.
He admitted the charges at Canterbury Crown Court and was sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday 20 March.
Detective Constable Hazel Edgar-Nevill said: “Attacks like that carried out by Tudor are calculated acts of violence, designed to cause lasting physical and emotional harm to victims.
“The sentence imposed by the court today sends a clear message that such violent acts will not be tolerated against our community, and those responsible will be held accountable by the justice system.”
Nice man ,sorry he’s an idiot not a man ,hope he gets a tough time in prison
This vile excuse for a human seems to have gone out with the intention of harming somebody that night. Who takes a chemical with them when going for a social drink or meet up with friends?
This piece of scum deserves every day of that six years even though he’ll no doubt only serve half. He has now ruined his own life as well as harming others. Moronic.
Nasty piece of work. He wont be liked inside.
Probably only serve 3 years and come out again and commit some other crime.Complete waste of space.
Actually, in England and Wales, while many people are released at the halfway point of their sentence, they don’t just walk free — they serve the rest of their sentence on license in the community. This means they are still under sentence and can be recalled to prison if they breach their license conditions or commit another offence.
What is “serving on license”?
After release (usually halfway for standard determinate sentences), prisoners are monitored by the Probation Service.
They must follow strict conditions — for example:
Living at a specific address
Attending appointments
Not contacting victims
Avoiding certain areas or people
Breaking these rules or reoffending can lead to immediate recall to prison, sometimes for the full remainder of the original sentence.
License enforcement stats (England & Wales):
In 2022–2023, over 6,000 people were recalled to custody for breaching their license conditions (source: Ministry of Justice, Offender Management Statistics Quarterly).
A 2021 report by HM Inspectorate of Probation found that around 25% of recalls were for poor compliance with supervision, not new crimes — showing how seriously license breaches are taken.
Serving on license is not freedom — it’s a continuation of the sentence with legal consequences.
For serious violent and sexual offences, people may serve two-thirds or more of their sentence in custody before being eligible for release.
High-risk offenders often have Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) overseeing them after release.
So, the idea that people only “do half their time and that’s it” misses the point entirely — they’re still being punished and supervised. The license period is an important part of the justice system designed to protect the public and reduce reoffending.