A Leeds city centre beggar assaulted a man on a night out after he refused to give him any change.
Tyrone Taylor, 21, punched the man as he made his way back to his hotel following a work night out in Headingley and Leeds city centre. Leeds Crown Court heard on Thursday that the man had just left Fibre nightclub on June 10 this year when he was approached by Taylor.
Heather Gilmore, prosecuting, told the court the man told Taylor he "didn't have any" and "everyone was struggling and having a hard time at the moment."
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She said: "He [Taylor] says he was homeless and asked the complainant to give him money near the club and was verbally abused and refused. He began to walk away and the complainant followed him, ridiculing. He walked to Heaton's Court and the complainant punched him in jest and he picked up a glass bottle to warn him off."
The court heard the 53-year-old then took off his jacket and threw it to the floor, inviting Taylor to fight. Ms Gilmore said he was then assaulted by Taylor, who was wearing a ring with edges at the time, which was thought to have caused the man's injuries. She said there was no evidence the man had been hit with the glass bottle.
Ms Gilmore said: "As he was on the floor he [Taylor] walked away and picked up his jacket." He took a mobile phone and the man's wallet containing his bank card and driving licence.
The prosecutor said Taylor said that he had given the phone to someone else and had attempted to use the bank card at a cash point at a petrol station to buy cigarettes, but it was declined. She said the man was helped by two men who was passing by. He was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he was treated for a 1.5cm wound which had to be glued.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, the man said that after he had left Headingley his memory was blurry and he did not remember being in Fibre nightclub but his bank statement suggested he had been. Ms Gilmore said: "He says he can't remember following the defendant and his recollections of what happened to his phone and jacket were inconsistent. CCTV shows the defendant walking past witnesses outside Stone Roses bar being followed by the defendant. Footage showing a smaller road he followed him down was poorly lit so it was not possible to see the assault but a figure thought to be the complainant on foot is seen for a few moments but when a car turns into the road he is on the floor."
In the statement, the man said the assault had left his three daughters distressed and he was "fearing for his life" while it was taking place and has suffered from flashbacks and nightmares since.
The court heard Taylor was arrested the next day as he slept rough at Granary Wharf. He pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and theft at an earlier Crown court hearing. He has previous convictions for offences including burglary, battery and possession of an offensive weapon.
Mitigating, Natalie Banks told the court a pre-sentence report had been issued for Taylor's case and he had written a letter to the court. The court heard Taylor had suffered in childhood as his mother was an addict and his grandmother, who was his carer, had died when he was a teenager.
His Honour Judge Tom Bayliss QC said he had also struggled with drugs. The judge said: "To put it mildly - you had a difficult upbringing. None of that excuses what you have done but it does explain how you have come to be in this situation you are in. You were homeless and begging and the victim was minding his own business."
The judge handed Taylor a sentence of 16 months suspended for two years and told him he must adhere to a drug rehabilitation order for 12 months and undertake 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days. As Taylor sobbed, the judge told him: "I can't tell whether the tears today are crocodile tears or genuine tears."
Taylor replied: "I'm genuinely sorry."
The judge added: "One last opportunity. Really, the future is in your hands. Commit not further offences for two years and do what the probation service tells you and you won't go back to prison and perhaps you can make something of your life but tears won't do any good if you don't. You will go straight back to prison."
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