A man suffered a brain haemorrhage and fractured skull after being knocked unconscious at a Northallerton pub.
But his attacker James Kerfoot, 35, was spared jail today despite pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with one punch which knocked his victim to the floor.
Andrew Finlay, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said the two men appeared to have had some kind of confrontation just before Kerfoot struck the named victim with enough force to knock him out cold.
A barman at Zoo Bar in Northallerton High Street said he was shocked by the sheer force of the blow and that the attack came “out of the blue”.
He rushed over to intervene as Kerfoot, from Northallerton, was standing over the stricken victim as if he was about to resume the attack.
Blood was pouring from his nose and he was lying motionless, said Mr Finlay.
The man was taken to hospital where scans showed he had suffered a bleed on the brain, a fractured skull and a broken nose. He also suffered “numerous” cuts to his face and bruising to his head.
Mr Finlay said that the man’s last recollection of the evening was going out to the pubs in Northallerton at about 2am.
He remembered nothing of the attack, which occurred at about 2.50am on December 19, 2021.
The named barman said he saw the victim, a regular at the pub, having a “drunken argument” outside the bar with Kerfoot who “suddenly punched him hard to the face”.
He said that the man was lying “lying motionless, his head shaking, unconscious”.
The barman took hold of Kerfoot and detained him until police arrived about five minutes later.
The witness described the attack as “completely unprovoked”, notwithstanding the initial confrontation which was allegedly over something that was said about a woman.
The victim suffered a subdural brain haemorrhage in two places and was kept in hospital overnight for observation. He was discharged the following day.
Kerfoot was charged with causing grievous bodily harm and admitted the offence on the basis that he wasn’t heavily drunk. He appeared for sentence today.
In a statement read out in court, the victim, who is self-employed, said he was unconscious, effectively in a coma, for nearly 24 hours.
He had been on “all sorts of tablets” for pain relief since the attack and felt tired “all the time”.
“I hardly go out at all (and) haven’t seen any friends,” he added.
He had to take five months off work which resulted in a heavy financial loss and had trouble sleeping. He had lost his sense of taste and smell and developed memory problems.
He said it was the second time he had been attacked in public and the second time he had suffered a brain injury which had “affected me tremendously”.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over this,” he added.
“I’ve suffered from depression with suicidal thoughts. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone and to go through this twice is hard to take.”
Kerfoot, of Stonegate Court, had two previous convictions for battery and criminal damage.
His barrister Andrew Nixon said the father-of-three had “acted by impulse” and was deeply ashamed of his actions.
He said that Kerfoot was otherwise a hard-working man who held down a responsible job and was highly thought of by his employer.
Judge Howard Crowson said it appeared that his victim was knocked unconscious before he hit the ground and had suffered “grave” and long-standing injuries due to the “impulsive, spontaneous assault”.
He added, however, that Kerfoot was not usually prone to violence and his family would suffer and could lose their home if he were jailed because he was the main breadwinner.
He said he would rather Kerfoot pay compensation to the victim than send him straight to prison, though “it was a close thing”.
The 12-month jail term was suspended for a year and Kerfoot was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and a 25-day rehabilitation programme. He was ordered to pay £5,000 compensation.
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