A group of people who intervened when they saw a man attack a homeless person in Armley centre have been sentenced.
Sonia Frej, 24, of Bath Road in London, Daniel Novak, 35, of Claremont Place in Leeds, Eva Saroj, 40, of Theaker Lane in Leeds and Matusz Wobel, 25, of Claremont Place in Leeds, all intervened when they saw Christopher Mills, 41, attack a homeless man in Town Street.
Leeds Crown Court heard Mills set upon the man and began kicking him in the head in the early hours of November 28, 2021. Prosecutor Graham O'Sullivan told the court: "Wobel [said in interview] he intervened and Mills pushed him and hit him and started to have a fight with him in the street. Novak chose not to answer questions.
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"Frej said people started fighting and her partner tried breaking it up. Saroj said she was angry because her daughter was angry and crying."
After the group walked off after Mills was hit and thrown to the ground, the court heard he followed them with a brick and a tile, which he went on to throw. Mr O'Sullivan said: "As he runs away from them, he throws the tile with his right hand.
"It narrowly misses Novak and he launches a kick at Mills. Mills then hits Wobel to the side of his head with a brick. Wobel ends up on the floor and Novak tackles Mills and begins to punch him repeatedly."
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The group, it was said, punched and stamped on Mills for around two minutes. The attack was caught on CCTV and the defendants were arrested. Mills, it was said, was recalled to prison on an IPP (indeterminate prison sentence) which he was made the subject of in 2005 for a number of robberies.
The court heard from the probation service who said all defendants would be able to carry out unpaid work.
Judge Bayliss handed them all year-long suspended sentences for affray and ordered Wobel and Novak to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and Frej and Saroj 100 hours of unpaid work.
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