Judge fears thug may 'soon kill a partner' after latest vicious beating outside Leeds club
A thug who was fast asleep in a working man’s club viciously beat his girlfriend after she woke him up, with a judge fearing he may kill a woman in future.
Gary Franks, who has a history of violence against women, was caught on CCTV smashing her car window with a pint glass before kicking and punching her outside the club.
The 39-year-old appeared at Leeds Crown Court via a video link from HMP Leeds, but became angry, calling it a “stitch up” and telling the judge he “knows nothing about it”. He also played down the sickening attack calling it a “bit of a slap”.
But Judge Ray Singh warned him there “would come a time” when he could potentially kill a partner unless he changed his ways.
He was jailed for more than two years and after being muted in court, he flicked a V sign as he got up to leave the video room.
The court heard that Franks had been in the Belle Isle Working Men’s Club at around 9pm on November 24 last year, was sat on his own at a table with a pint but was fast asleep.
His partner was contacted and asked if she could collect him. She arrived half an hour later and tried to wake him. He eventually stirred and followed her out of the building still clutching his pint.
The CCTV from outside the Belle Isle Road club was then played to the court. It showed her getting into the car but then Franks smashing the glass down onto the car windscreen causing it to break.
She remonstrated with Franks, who was staggering around and then seen to strike her. He then tried to get into the driver’s seat, before getting out. With the woman on the floor he kicked her in the face, dragged her a short distance and punched her again.
He only stopped when a member of the public intervened. Franks then left the scene.
He was arrested three days later. During his interview he said the woman was “attention seeking” and denied being violent.
Franks, of Orion Gardens, Belle Isle, has 26 previous convictions for 46 offences, including 17 for violence.
He was jailed in April 2021 for breaking a partner's ribs and leaving her with a collapsed lung.
He was also jailed in 2018 for a three-hour stand-off with police after he climbed onto the roof of a house after a booze and cocaine binge.
For his latest offending, he admitted ABH and criminal damage.
Mitigating, Martin Morrow had little to say on the defendant’s behalf, conceding the CCTV “speaks for itself”. He said that Franks had been on remand for almost 150 days and “recognised he needed to be punished”.
Judge Singh asked for Franks to be muted over the video link after he refused to stay quiet. He continued to rant despite being inaudible.
Judge Singh told him said that despite previous prison sentences, Franks “did not learn his lesson at all” and still minimises the attack on his partner.
He told Franks: “You are an individual who will not learn. There will come a time you either hurt your partner seriously or a fatality will arise.
“You have a long history of domestic abuse against this victim and previous partners. You are dangerous, there’s no doubt about that.”
Due to the restricted sentencing powers at his disposal for ABH, Judge Singh was unable to pass an extended sentence to reflect his dangerousness.
Franks was given 27 months’ jail and a life-long restraining order to keep him away from the woman.