Leeds city centre skateboarders shout 'I'll smash your head in' before carrying out horrifying attack on man

The brutal attack was caught on CCTV and showed the gang wielding their boards at the victim after he complained about them skating too close to him and his girlfriend.

But because the attack took place in 2020 and the defendants had stayed out of trouble since and had got jobs, the judge at Leeds Crown Court, Recorder Andrew Dallas said he had little option but to let them walk from court with suspended sentences.

He said: “I make it absolutely clear that if you were brought before the court in a reasonable time, you both would have gone into custody. Through no fault of your own it’s taken two-and-a-quarter years to start these proceedings.”

Declan Webster and Elliott O’Neill admitted causing Section 20 GBH and affray for the horrifying attack on Briggate in the early hours of August 31, 2020. The victim and his partner had been for a bank-holiday drink in Leeds city centre when Webster, O’Neill and an unidentified third man skated close by them.

The victim was said to have kicked out at them so the group stopped and charged at the man. One was heard to say “I will smash your head in”.

Footage showed the three picking up their boards and begin swinging at the man, striking him several times. Two passers-by then tried to intervene with the skaters directed blows towards them also. The group then skated away from the scene. X-rays showed a fracture to the victim’s arm. Police were able to locate the group, identified by their clothing.

Little mitigation was offered for both defendants after Recorder Dallas conceded that suspended sentences would be imposed.

Webster, 20, of Sholebroke View, Potternewton, was given 12 months’ jail suspended for 18 months, 100 hours of unpaid work, a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and told to pay £500 compensation.

O’Neill, 24, of Rosemary Gardens, Allerton in Bradford, was given the same sentence, but with 175 hours hours of unpaid work. Recorder Dallas warned them to “bring a bag” if they came back to court in future. He added: “You will go straight through the back door into custody.”