Wakefield man who stamped on heads of teenage boy and girl found by police hiding in a cupboard

Alex Neill, 19, was involved in the attack on a 16-year-old boy and a girl on August 27, 2021, at Cathedral Retail Park in Wakefield with another man named Connor Hepworth who has not yet been located by police.

Neill tried to evade facing the consequences after the attack but was found by police at a house in Barnsley hiding in a cupboard.

He was charged with Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and handed a suspended prison sentence at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday (October 26).

The court heard that Neill, who was 18 at the time, had been drinking that night and became enraged when he discovered that his then-girlfriend was spending time with other males. He was angered by one of his then-girlfriend’s friends had been talking about him negatively behind his back.

He then went with Hepworth and other friends to locate the group and found them at Cathedral Retail Park.

The 16-year-old saw Neill and Hepworth coming and shouting threats. He “tried to reason with them but to no avail”.

Hepworth threw a punch that caused the teen to fall to the ground and he and Neill began repeatedly kicking and stamping on him. The teenager then “curled into a ball”.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Sharp said: “He tried to get to his feet but every time the defendant kicked him in the face.

"He stamped repeatedly on his head and the attack lasted for between two and three minutes.”

The friend of Neill’s then-girlfriend that had been talking about him behind his back then tried to intervene but the court was told Neill then started stamping on her “head, ribs and hands to get her to move”.

Mr Sharp said that after the attack the 16-year-old went to a McDonald’s to clean himself up and police were called but “for reasons I can’t understand” no arrests were made.

Neill was not arrested until nearly five months later on January 12 this year when police found him at an address in Barnsley hiding in a cupboard.

In mitigation, the court heard that Neill felt a “great deal of remorse and shame” over the attack and that he was now trying to “move forward” with his life.

It was also said that there was “history” between Neill and the two people he attacked.

Sentencing Neill, Judge Robin Mairs said: “I don’t care whose girlfriend said what about whom. I don’t care if you were offended by what someone said about you.

"You went looking for a group and when you found him Hepworth punched him and then he was kicked and stamped on repeatedly. It was a two to one attack.

"[The girl] got punched and kicked as well

"It’s cowardly. It’s mindless. It’s needless.”

Judge Mairs took the mitigation into account and sentenced Neill to a 12 month sentence suspended for 18 months and also ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.