Judge slams ‘absurd’ rules as he jails two yobs for brutal attack

Kevin Wood, 34, was walking his dog in Heckmondwike in the early hours when he was attacked by under-age drinkers Ryan Jones, then 16 and now 17, and Ben Haynes, 17.

Mr Wood was punched, kicked in the face and stamped on, causing skull fractures and six months on he is unable to walk or talk – except to say “mum”.

He lay outside a Lidl store for as long as six hours, with his dog by his side, before help came.

His mother had to sell her house and adapt her new home to care for her disabled son.

Yesterday Jones was given an eight-year sentence and Haynes got nine years after they admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Recorder Richard Mansell QC, sitting at Leeds Crown Court, said the attack was “savage, gratuitous and cowardly”. The victim was vulnerable as he had been drinking and his arm was in a pot.

He criticised sentencing guidelines, describing as “absurd” the “chasm” between sentence limits for GBH with intent compared with attempted murder.

He was “not convinced” the prosecution had pursued the correct charges.

“This man very nearly died. I am entitled to, and I am going to, depart from the (sentencing) guidelines.”

The judge said he had never been involved with a similar case where the harm caused was worse.

Reporting restrictions were lifted, allowing the pair, from Liversedge, to be named. Both were of previous good character and expressed remorse but initially blamed Mr Wood.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said attempted murder charges were dropped “following observations from the district judge in the youth court”.

Proceeding with GBH with intent was “a difficult and finely balanced decision”.