Jail for teenager who left farmer with brain damage in Leeds
The judge said Richards had been out in Wakefield before going to several bars in Leeds, arriving at The New Penny in the early hours of 31 July. CCTV images showed him sitting at the bar drinking not far from Mr Allott, but there did not seem to be interaction between the two men. Judge Kearl said the victim was "highly intoxicated" and was asked to leave the pub, which he did, but was attacked by Richards as he stood outside. The judge said: "You punched him repeatedly and he put up no defence.
"You claimed he had been talking to underage girls, but there was no evidence of this."You were taken away and he was too. But then he stood against a lamppost and you could have left at that point but you didn't – you led him to an alleyway, where you punched him and he fell to the ground." He told the court how Richards kept leaving the scene then returning, inflicting injuries on his victim each time. He was seen on CCTV hitting him with a pipe "using full force", before picking up a beer keg and smashing it against his head and the upper part of his body a total of 14 times. Mr Allott was left with a bleed on the brain and was in an induced coma for 10 days, and required hospital treatment for a month. He was left with fractures to his jaw and cheek, and continuing brain damage.
'Catastrophic effect'
The court heard a victim impact statement in which Mr Allott said the brain injury affected his balance and the strength in his legs. He suffered ear damage, hand damage and nerve damage affecting his grip. He has not been able to work as a farmer since the attack. "I do not have the energy levels and my ability to organise and make decisions has been impacted," he said. "It has had a catastrophic affect on my business, as well as on my emotions."
Richards' defence barrister said he accepted what he had done was wrong and was left "disgusted and horrified" at his actions. He said: "He does not accept that he intended to kill, but when he saw the CCTV he contemplated it and realised the severity of what he had done and he changed his plea to guilty."Richards, who was 18 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to 22 years partly in a Young Offenders' Institution and then in jail.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Armed police attend after gunshots fired at car in Rotherham
Police are investigating after gunshots were fired at a car in Rotherham officers were deployed to Pitt Street in the Kimberworth area at about 14:00 Yorkshire Police said no injuries had been reported and asked anyone with information about the incident to get in remained at the scene conducting further enquiries and high visibility patrols would take place in the coming days, the force added. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Wales Online
32 minutes ago
- Wales Online
Man who crashed stolen car into wall told witness: 'Don't grass me up'
Man who crashed stolen car into wall told witness: 'Don't grass me up' Kyle Durham, 37, went on to tell the witness: 'Say it was two girls... I'm well-known round here' Kyle Durham, 37, took a Mini Cooper and drove it into a wall while intoxicated causing £22,000 of damage (Image: South Wales Police) An intoxicated man crashed a stolen vehicle into a wall and caused £22,000 worth of driving before telling a witness "Don't grass me up, I'm well-known round here." He later smashed a friend's flat up and took her car without permission, telling her: "You're not having your car back." Kyle Durham, 37, wrote off a Mini Cooper belonging to Rhiannon Williams on May 24 last year in Pontypridd after he had been given the keys by one of her friends. He crashed into a wall belonging to Transport for Wales but left the scene on foot having been witnessed. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard at around 3am residents heard a loud bang in Wood Road and the defendant was seen to pull a woman out of the car. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter. Before he left the scene he spoke to a witness and said: "Please don't snitch on us." Blood was coming from his mouth and he ran off. Shortly later, he returned to pick up the car keys and again spoke to the witness, saying: "Say it was two girls. I've been to prison for 15 years. Don't grass me up. I'm well-known around here." The police were called and Durham was identified on CCTV footage and he was later arrested. Officers called Ms Williams and told her the Mini had been involved in a crash. The car was written off due to front-end damage and there was a hole in a wall, which would cost £22,822 to repair. In a victim personal statement read to the court by Tabitha Walker Ms Williams said: "For six to seven weeks I have been without a car and the insurance company has yet to pay out. "I work as a nurse, mostly agency, so I have to travel... I have only been able to work one shift a week and have had to use public transport. "I have lost around £500 to £600 a week. It's had a negative impact on my wellbeing and I feel I am the only person to suffer from the selfish actions of others." On December 21 last year Durham attended the home of friend Charmaine Thorne and became angry. He punched a door, causing it to fall off its hinges, flipped a coffee table, threw a television set from a wall and ripped wires which caused it to spark, threw a coffee table at a wall, damaged an Xbox, snapped an iPhone, and damaged a lightshade. The victim attempted to get into her car but the defendant told her to get into the passenger seat and he got into the driver's seat. During the journey he confronted another driver and said: "What's your f****** problem?" before driving off. Ms Thorne left the car to get into a shop and told staff Durham had taken her car. At this point the defendant said: "You're not having your car back." He then drove off and left Ms Thorne to get a bus back to her parents' house. Durham, formerly of Yr Hen Fuarth, Treforest, was arrested on December 31 after he was seen hiding near a rugby pitch and was pursued by police on foot. In her victim personal statement Ms Thorne said: "He made me feel really upset. I am too frightened to let anyone inside my property as I don't trust anyone. "I am afraid to leave my house and feel isolated from friends. I am struggling to sleep and believe the whole incident has impacted my mental health. The defendant later pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle-taking, taking a vehicle without consent, driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance, theft of motor vehicle, and criminal damage. The court heard he has 16 previous convictions for offences including theft from the person, aggravated vehicle-taking, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance. In mitigation Andrew Taylor said his client's life has been "blighted" by cocaine and alcohol but he is now free of cocaine. It was said he now has a new partner and has the offer of employment and accommodation from his uncle. Mr Taylor asked the court if an order could be made to prevent the defendant from attending pubs, specifically his father's pub where he has access to free alcohol, but Judge Lucy Crowther said this was not possible. Judge Crowther sentenced Durham to 24 months imprisonment. Article continues below The defendant was also made subject to a driving ban for two years upon his release and a restraining order for two years.
South Wales Argus
3 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
No evidence Aimee Betro was paid for her role in assassination plot
Standing at just 5ft 5ins, Betro's appearance was so unassuming that a taxi driver unwittingly ferried her away from the scene of a shooting, despite hearing three gunshots shortly after she got out of his cab and walked into a nearby cul-de-sac. During her evidence to jurors, the 45-year-old mostly stuck with short answers, and passed herself off as someone who had obeyed instructions from her lover to buy a 'burner' phone without having any knowledge of a plot to kill. Addressing the court in the same accent and monotone pattern of speech as she used in two calls to taxi firms which police recovered as evidence, Betro claimed she was of medium build and the would-be assassin caught on CCTV was of slim appearance. Betro caught on CCTV near the scene of the bungled shooting (West Midlands Police/PA) Almost laughably, she also claimed that 'another American woman', who had a similar voice and footwear, knew Nazir, and had booked taxis to her hotel using a phone she had bought, was the female wearing a niqab whose gun jammed in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham, on September 7 2019. Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for almost 21 hours over five days before finding Betro guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and a charge of fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition. The childhood development and graphic design graduate, who denied all the charges, flew into Britain to take part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, and Mohammed Aslam, 56, to shoot dead Aslat Mahumad following an altercation in a shop. Betro, from West Allis in Wisconsin, was caught on CCTV at the scene of a failed attempt to shoot Mr Aslam's son, Sikander Ali, and during a return visit to the same street at which she fired three aimed shots through two front windows. Evidence also showed that Betro contacted Mr Mahumad on September 6 after he advertised a car for sale, but he declined to meet her and offered to have someone else show her the vehicle. Father and son Aslam and Nazir, both from Derby, were jailed last year for their part in the failed assassination plot. Recounting how she had feelings for and was in love with Nazir, who she said she had slept with at an Airbnb in London during one of two previous trips to the UK, Betro claimed she had flown into Manchester from Atlanta on August 22 2019 to celebrate her birthday. But she instead found time to hire a car to take part in a £12,000 'crash-for-cash' scam involving Nazir before the attempted murder of Mr Ali. After trying to kill Mr Ali on September 7, Betro returned to the US on September 9, with Nazir following on a Manchester-Atlanta-Chicago flight on September 13, giving immigration officials Betro's Wisconsin address as his point of contact. 'He was going to stay at hotels but he used my address,' Betro told her trial. 'I was excited about seeing him.' Co-conspirator Mohammed Nabil Nazir, who lived in Derby (West Midlands Police/PA) According to Betro's account, the pair rented a car and drove to Seattle 'just for a road trip' with stops at an amusement park, Area 51 in Nevada and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Betro told jurors she did not even know there had been a shooting in Measham Grove and Nazir had not mentioned it during his time in the States, which ended in mid-October when he flew with Norwegian Air back to Gatwick and was arrested. Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas, of West Midlands Police, commenting on the inquiry, said the vehicle-related insurance scam showed 'the pure depth of criminality and lack of respect for the normal rules of society' of Betro and her co-conspirators. Asked if he believed Betro was paid or had acted out of loyalty to her partner Nazir, the officer said: 'We've not seen evidence of payments. 'They met on a dating site, whether this is a partner doing something for another partner, again, there's no clear evidence of that. I see it as a criminal association and a murderous plot.' There was no evidence that Betro had any previous experience with firearms from either the US or Armenian authorities, although she did hit the windows upstairs and downstairs during her return to Measham Grove. The weapon she used is likely to have been a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, which experts say are not particularly difficult to use. Mr Orencas said of Betro: 'I would describe her as a criminal with murderous intent, with an absolute disregard for the safety of people. 'She clearly attempted to murder on the sixth. That didn't work out because of the lack of the meeting. She tried to do it again on the seventh. 'She goaded (the intended victim through text messages) after that. She then went and discharged (the pistol) into a house where people may well have been hit while sleeping. 'She's a criminal, with murderous intent, as are the other people that have been convicted in this.'
