Elland man who attacked wedding couple fails in appeal

Apr 23 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A YOUNG thug, who threw the first punch of a savage attack on a couple as they walked home from a wedding, failed in an Appeal Court challenge to his four-year jail term.

Lee Hirst, 22, of Huddersfield Road, Brighouse, was locked up last October after being convicted at Bradford Crown Court of violent disorder.

Three others, who all pleaded guilty to the offence, received sentences ranging from 12 months to 18 months for their part in the incident.

Their victims, Philip and Clare Froggatt, had been celebrating a wedding on the night of the attack, which occurred in nearby Elland in the early hours of September 16, 2007.

After making an insulting remark to Mrs Froggatt, Hirst punched her husband in the face, before the other young men joined in, raining running kicks on the prone Mr Froggatt.