Teenager in revenge attack on filmgoer locked up

Jordan Horsley, 16, became angry with Annette Warden after she "shushed" him during a screening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at a Vue cinema in Leeds as he and his friends talked and used their mobile phones.

The mother-of-two later fetched a member of staff when his group continued to disturb cinema-goers on July 26.

But when the film finished the teenager decided to punish her for her intervention.

He shouted abuse at Mrs Warden from a car as she, her husband and two sons went for dinner at the Frankie & Benny's restaurant on the Cardigan Fields leisure site in Kirkstall Road.

The teenager then bought a bottle of Domestos at a garage and returned to the restaurant.

Approaching the family's table from behind, he squeezed the bleach over Mrs Warden's head so it ran down into her eyes and onto her clothes. Some also hit her husband and one of her sons.

Horsley, of Gipton, Leeds, was found guilty by a jury last month of attempting to cause Mrs Warden grievous bodily harm with intent. He had admitted assaulting her but claimed he only meant to "show her up".

Imposing a 12-month detention and training order on him, Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC described it as a unique case. "You were offended because Mrs Warden complained about you when you were making a noise along with some friends of yours.

"You decided to take your revenge on her. Initially, I accept you wanted to find some eggs to throw at her but when you couldn't find any, you bought a bottle of Domestos bleach."

The court heard Mrs Warden had trouble sleeping after the attack and was prescribed medication. She also described being scared to go out alone with her children without her husband.

Horsley had previously received a three-month referral order at a youth court in 2006 for an assault when he picked up half a brick and hit someone on the side of the head with it. He was also cautioned in 2005 for an earlier assault.

The teenager, whose mother died when he was young, had suffered a violent relationship with his father and was living alone at the time of the restaurant offence. Judge Collier said social services had been involved with him but had not resolved matters satisfactorily.

"You have not been well-served in your life by your father and there must be some concerns as to the intervention that was attempted as you were growing up, which never resolved the issues which you still have."

Lifting a restriction on identifying the teenager, he said he had to reduce the length from two years to allow for time already spent in custody. He told him he hoped work would now be done with him "to try and help you control your temper and assist you in other ways in constructing your life for the future."

After the case Detective Inspector Neil Thompson said: "Jordan Horsley's actions were utterly vindictive and understandably left people shocked and sickened.

"It will take some considerable time for Mrs Warden and her family to recover from mental scars the incident has left."

A neighbour of Mrs Warden's who didn't want to be named, said: "You couldn't meet a nicer person than Annette and she'd never want any trouble.

"I cannot believe he could be out on the streets again in six months, that's really scary."