Thug split man's head open in single punch attack at Wakefield Nisa shop - Leeds Crown Court sentencing

Joseph Micheal Burns attacked the man in a Nisa store in Wakefield after the pair exchanged words in the street minutes earlier, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Samuel Ponniah said 35-year-old Burns, who has previous convictions for violence, had been with two friends when the victim walked past on June 16 last year.

The victim, who was drunk, asked if the group ‘had a problem’ because he caught them looking at him. One of the group asked him the same question.

They then followed him into the shop in Windhill Road on the Eastmoor estate.

As the man walked towards the till, he dropped his basket and bent down to pick up his items. Burns punched him to the side of the head and then quickly tried to see if the man was okay but was ordered to leave the premises.

The victim was taken to hospital with a cut to his head that was down to the skull. He needed 30 stitches.

Burns, of Garsdale Grove, Wakefield, later posted on Facebook about the attack and said it was self defence.

He admitted Section 20 unlawful wounding before he was due to stand trial.

The court was told that he had 21 convictions for 33 offences, including unlawful wounding and actual bodily harm a year later.

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Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said: “It goes beyond self defence, it was far more excessive, and the defendant accepts that.

“The defendant was in drink at the time but he does not shy away from the fact the man needed stitches.”

She said Burns suffered a difficult upbringing and was seeking to address his anger management difficulties.

The judge, Recorder Catherine Silverton, gave him a sentence of 12 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and 80 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to take a building better relationships course to help address his anger issues.

This article was first published by the Wakefield Express.