A man has been given a suspended jail sentence after he stamped on another customer in a pub toilet after taking offence at a remark.
Ryan Binney was in the gents at the Harp public house in Bradford Road, Fartown, soon after midnight on December 29, 2012 when Martin Conway noticed he was holding an unlit cigarette in one hand.
Mr Conway joked that he was not allowed to smoke in the toilets but Binney responded in an aggressive way and he appeared before Leeds Crown Court yesterday for sentencing.
Philip Standfast, prosecuting, said Mr Conway had only been joking and Binney initially left the toilet but then returned and assaulted him.
The landlord walked in to see Binney stamping on his victim. He pulled Binney away and Mr Conway was taken to hospital.
Mr Standfast said the victim was particularly concerned because he was already blind in one eye and had a problem seeing out of his other eye as a result of the attack.
Fortunately it turned out there was no fracture or long term damage although his face was badly bruised. He also had a crown broken on a front tooth, which had to be replaced by a dentist.
Adam Birkby, representing Binney, told the court he accepted he should not have acted as he had and wanted to apologise to the complainant.
“This was a flash of red during an argument in the toilet and he lost control,” he said. “This was something of a blip on his general character and there has been nothing since.”
Binney, 22 of Knowl Road, Golcar, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was given 21 months in prison, suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £231.50 compensation to Mr Conway, the cost of his dental work.
Judge James Spencer QC said Binney had described in a letter his family commitments to his young child and the effect if he was jailed immediately.
“When you were out in the public house after midnight on December 29 your family commitments were the furthest thing from your mind because what you were doing was drinking and when this man passed the time of day with you, you couldn’t see the joke in his comments.”
“But worse than that having left the lavatory you went back to assault him and referred to him as an old man, quite clearly he was much older than you and you were going to show him that he couldn’t speak to you like that.
“You knocked him down, you stamped on his head, it is a mercy he didn’t suffer any really serious injury, he has been able to get over it even though it was unpleasant.”
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news .
Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here , the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here
To follow us on Twitter click here
