A 'Scottish' ex-soldier has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years after he stabbed a homeless man with a long bladed screwdriver.
Violent, Paul Tansey, 47, from Hull, became embroiled in a drunken argument with the victim before launching the vicious attack and left him with serious injuries, including a fractured eye socket and a badly damaged eye, reports Hull Live.
The terrified victim feared for his life after he was set about by the former soldier, who speaks with a Scottish accent, and another man on January 23, Hull Crown Court heard.
Tansey admitted wounding the man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Christopher Dunn, prosecuting, said that the homeless man had been drinking and had been to KFC in Beverley Road, Hull, that day at around noon.
Another man, still wanted by the police, sat with him on a bench and offered to let the homeless man stay at his home. The homeless man later went to the house, via an off-licence, where he bought cans of beer, and also picked up fish and chips along the way.
Inside the house, the man met Tansey, who was also living there. Tansey identified himself as "Scottish Jock" and they began drinking heavily but an argument erupted and the homeless man was attacked by the pair.
Tansey repeatedly stabbed him with a screwdriver, causing "grave" injuries, and repeatedly elbowed him in the face, while the second man punched and kicked the victim to the side.
"He was frightened for his life during the attack," said Mr Dunn.
The victim managed to escape from the house and walked to his brother's home nearby, and his brother telephoned for an ambulance and the victim went to Hull Royal Infirmary.
Lucky not to lose an eye
At the hospital the victim learned that he had a fractured eye socket and a nurse stated that he was lucky not to have lost the eye.
He lost a tooth and suffered cuts all over, including on top of his head, chest and hand, marks to his neck and extensive bruising.
The victim, who later found a home, said: "The whole incident has turned me into a recluse. I have been scared to leave the house."
Following the attack he needed appointments with an eye specialist and his eye had been left drooping and causing problems. His vision had decreased and he had suffered deformity to an optic nerve.
After they were alerted to the incident, police went to the house where Tansey was living and found him and the other man inside.
The screwdriver was under a coffee table and the victim's blood remained on it. "It's a highly dangerous weapon," said Mr Dunn.
At an identity procedure the victim fingered Tansey but the other man remains at large.
Tansey had convictions for 43 previous offences, including for assaults and carrying weapons. He had been jailed for 20 months for wounding.
Julia Baggs, mitigating, said that Tansey was in the army for six years and served in Northern Ireland as well as many other countries, but after being discharged on medical grounds in 1999 he had since suffered problems.
Tansey had been in a "vicious cycle" of drinking, committing crime, going to prison and returning to drinking.
He had worked as a tailor while in custody at Lincoln Prison and in the servery and as a painter and decorator in Hull Prison.
"He wants to break the pattern of offending that is so clear from his record," said Miss Baggs. "He has reached the age where he wants to turn his life around."
Miss Beegs said that Tansey wanted to apologise to the victim. "He does know that this is deeply unpleasant offending."
Judge Mark Bury told Tansey: "You plainly, all of you, had a very good drink and were drunk. It's not surprising, in the circumstances, that an argument developed. It led to quite serious violence.
"You used a screwdriver. It's a long-bladed screwdriver and you stabbed him several times with it to his face, his head and body and hands. You elbowed him in the face a number of times. It's effectively a knife used to stab people. Psychologically, he has been badly affected."
Tansey was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
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