A man has been jailed after he punched another in a Huddersfield taxi queue causing him to fall back and suffer a serious head injury.
Leeds Crown Court heard Shaun Goddard had been out for the evening with his wife and he took exception to something said to her by the other man Winston George.
Nick Adlington prosecuting said CCTV footage showed the couple in the centre of Huddersfield on July 5 and they were “in close proximity” when a verbal argument took place between the complainant and Goddard’s wife.
Goddard took “aversion” to something that was said and struck a punch which hit Mr George in the face causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement.
He was knocked unconscious and was seen to be bleeding from his ear.
At hospital he was found to have a perforated eardrum and bleeding on the brain. The court heard there was also some suggestion of a fractured skull but that had not been confirmed in medical documents to the prosecution.
Mr George spent seven days in hospital before he was discharged.
Mr Adlington said Goddard had 29 previous offences on his record over 17 court appearances including assault and a grievous bodily harm in 2009.
Charlotte Worsley representing Goddard urged the court not to jail him immediately in spite of his record.
She said at the time his wife was having investigations for cervical cancer and he was being very protective towards her. She was sensitive about comments having lost weight and was upset at what was said to her.
Fortunately the hospital had confirmed her last biopsy was normal. She had suffered considerably while Goddard was initially kept in custody after the incident and would find it both emotionally and financially difficult if he was jailed.
Goddard, 35, a driver, of Birkby Lodge Road, Huddersfield admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 22 months.
Recorder Mark McKone said he accepted Goddard was a good husband and father and that the assault was not pre-meditated but it had involved violence in a public place in the early hours of the morning and was aggravated by his previous record.
He said courts often had to deal with cases of manslaughter where people who were punched and then struck their head on the ground had died. “Fortunately this man has recovered.”
