A FATHER-OF-TWO who left his best friend seriously injured and needing a blood transfusion after a vicious attack has been locked up.
Burnley Crown Court heard how Alan Woods punched Matthew Hall and then stabbed him in the head repeatedly with a broken bottle in the incident last December. Woods, who believed there had been an “indiscretion” between the victim and the defendant’s girlfriend, had been drunk when he struck and couldn’t believe he had done it.
Mr Hall suffered deep, severe scalp wounds, had a blood clot, needed surgery, lost six pints of blood and had to have a transfusion. He ended up permanently scarred.
Jobless Woods, who was on a suspended jail term at the time, admitted wounding. The defendant (34), of Briercliffe Avenue, Colne, had also been committed for sentence by Bradford and Keighley magistrates. He had been convicted of possessing cannabis and mephedrone, when he had also been found with £600 cash in Keighley. Woods was jailed for a total of two years five months.
Mr Richard Haworth (prosecuting) said Mr Hall had been out with his girlfriend and described himself as “paralytic”.
He went to a house in Colne, where he met up with the defendant and others who had clearly been drinking for some considerable time. Mr Hall had known Woods for 10 years and there had never been any trouble before. He was sitting on a sofa when he heard the defendant say: “I knew it.” Woods threw a punch, hitting the victim in the eye. Mr Hall then felt something sharp to the back of his head and felt immediate wetness. The victim remembered feeling three blows to the back of his head and was bleeding heavily. He was taken to hospital about 2 a.m.
Mr Haworth said Woods had 13 offences on his record, which started in 1994.
Mr Richard Taylor, for Woods, said custody was inevitable and the defendant was well aware of that.
Mr Hall was a good friend but the defendant thought there had been an “indiscretion” between the victim and Woods’s girlfriend.
Mr Taylor said: “He cannot believe what he’s done.” The solicitor told the court Woods had never been to prison before and felt he had let his children down more than anything.
Mr Taylor continued: “He accepts he had been drinking heavily. Through me, he wishes to apologise sincerely to the friend of his, who received the very unpleasant injuries.”
Sentencing, Judge Beverly Lunt said Mr Hall suffered very nasty injuries. She told Woods: “The only explanation seems to be you had had far too much to drink.”