A stable groom for a world famous horse trainer was jailed for attacking his former friend while he slept – leaving him now needing round-the-clock care.
Richard Evans punched Craig Martin around eight times as he lay on the sofa at the victim’s mum’s home in Wallasey after a minor dispute on Facebook.
Evans, 31, and employed as a stable worker for horse trainer Richard Hannon, battered 29-year-old Mr Martin so badly that he suffered a cardiac arrest and was unconscious for 45 minutes.
He now needs constant care after having a defibrillator inserted in his chest and could have died at any moment, medics have warned.
Evans, who assaulted his victim five years earlier and knocked out his teeth, caused his old friend a ‘life-changing injury’, prosecutors said.
Peter Hussey, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that Evans burst into the victim’s mum’s house in Gainsborough Road, Wallasey and repeatedly struck him, leaving Mr Martin with neurological damage involving visual, cognitive and memory problems.
Evans fled after the assault, leaving Mr Martin’s mum and brother giving him CPR while he struggled to breath, in March last year.
The dad-of-three, who had a genetic heart condition at the time of the assault, is now unable to care for his children.
Mr Hussey said: “He remains unable to perform daily tasks without being prompted to do so, is unable to initiate things for himself and he has difficulty making choices…
“He becomes frustrated and angry and it is feared he may never be able to live independently.”
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His brother Stephen said in a statement: “Part of Craig died that day. It is soul destroying … I want my brother back.”
Evans, who had previously trained at an army boxing boot camp, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 32 months.
Judge Graham Morrow, QC, who read a reference from trainer Richard Hannon, said he hoped he had learnt his lesson and will walk away from violence in future.
He added: “Your mindless action could have easily led to fatal consequences.”
Dad-of-three Evans, of Challis Street, Birkenhead, appeared in the dock wearing Hannon’s Wiltshire stables logo on his jacket.
Brendan Carville, defending, said that Evans, who has convictions for dishonesty, was remorseful, and added: “He has to live with the fact he has caused a life changing injury.
“It is very sad circumstances, they were once friends.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/