Jail for thug who knocked two women to the ground in separate unprovoked attacks
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Attack: The woman is left unconscious
A thug who was caught on CCTV knocking two women unconscious in separate unprovoked attacks was today jailed for four years with the judge branding him "a threat to women".
Michael Ayoade, 34, launched a a vicious assault on a 16 year old, punching her to the ground as she walked to college in East London in November last year.
He was arrested for assault after an anonymous tip off following the release of the CCTV images of the Muslim teenager being pummelled and left sprawled on the pavement.
Nigerian born Ayoade told police that the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, "started it" and provoked his vicious assault.
He said he could not stand "taking an insult from a little person like that".
Ayoade also attacked five foot four tall student Daniella Montieth, 21, who was on the phone at Plaistow tube station in East London in November 2011 in another unprovoked attack.
He punched her in the side of the head as she had problems using the ticket machine, CCTV footage showed. He ran behind her and knocked her out.
His Honour Judge Roger Chapple sentenced him to four years at Inner London Crown Court as the court heard he had targeted, lone, defenceless women.
He said: "I am concerned of the risk he poses to others, especially lone women."
"These are the sort of attacks which cause the public ever greater concern. The public fear for their safety even in the hours of daylight."
The sentence was the maximum the judge could impose.
He added: "The CCTV images are worth many thousands of words. They catch graphically the shocking violence of these attacks."
Ayoade pleaded guilty to the assaults at an earlier hearing.
He also admitted possession of cannabis.
Gillian Frost, defending, said that Ayoade was a regular cannabis user and that "possibly that has contributed to his attacks."
A third allegation of an attack on a woman at Plaistow station last year was dropped.
The court heard that the thug had previously been jailed for two other unprovoked attacks in 2009. In one he spat on a woman after she said he was "disgusting."
Prosecutor Joel Smith told the court: "What is shocking is that these incidents flare up from nothing. He is a threat to women."
In mitigation his defence said that he had learned that "he needs to walk away" when he felt wronged.