'Cowardly' Leeds drug-dealer punched autistic man who tried to break up pub fight

Joshua Standing ran up and punched the man from behind in what the judge at Leeds Crown Court called “cowardly and unnecessary”. Another thug then ran up and kicked the man in the face as he lay prone on the floor.

The young victim, who also suffers from epilepsy and global delay which means he has delayed development, suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket and lacerations to his nose and eyebrow. The court was told that he has suffered increased epileptic seizures since the attack, which medical experts have put down the head trauma he suffered.

Prosecuting the case, Alisha Kaye said the teenage victim had been out with rugby teammates in Farsley on May 29, 2021. It was rare for him to socialise in pubs because of his difficulties. When a fight broke out between females, he helped intervene and break it up by pushing one of the females away.

He then left the pub with some of the females but was followed along the road by the other females, accompanied with Standing and the second offender. He was then punched to the back of the head before being kicked in the face. He was covered in blood and screaming when his mother came to find him and take him to hospital.

CCTV stills of the men were released by police and the pair gave themselves in to police six days later. Standing admitted he was drunk and claimed he was acting in self defence while the second man gave a largely no-comment interview after admitting he was there.

They both eventually admitted Section 20 wounding. Meanwhile, Standing also admitted two counts of dealing in Class A drugs while on bail for the street attack.

He was involved in an accident involving a car and the electric bike he was riding on Church Street in Pudsey on the evening of October 30 last year. When police searched his jacket, they found 30 bags of cocaine worth £3,400.

The 19-year-old was then seen throwing drugs from VW car after police tried to flag it down on Stanningley Bypass on November 8 last year. They recovered 44 bags of cocaine worth nearly £5,000. A search of his home address at Rossefield Approach in Bramley unearthed a machete and a “tick list” for outstanding customer drug debts.

Mitigating for Standing, George Jackson said the attack was out of character for his client, who has no previous convictions. He said: “He is full of remorse and regret for his actions that night.”

He said that since then his “life had spiralled out of control” and saw him get involved in the drugs trade.

Judge Robin Mairs said Standing “sucker punched” the victim and told him: “It’s difficult to imagine a more cowardly attack. It was needless and unnecessary.” It was heard that Standing also knew the victim and knew of his difficulties.

He handed him 57 months in a young offenders institute. The second man is due to be sentenced on May 30, and was remanded in custody until then.