Leeds dad suffered permanent vision loss after his eye was gouged during 'brutal attack' attack by his son and daughter

Ryan Townend was jailed after admitting responsibility for causing the serious injury.

Leeds Crown Court heard he also struck his dad's partner over the head with a toaster during the violence.

Ryan and his sister, Jordan Townend, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm over the drink-fuelled attack on October 16, 2019.

Adam Walker, prosecuting, said the disturbance happened at the victim's home after he drank alcohol with his children and his partner.

During the course of the evening the dad noticed his son's mood changing.

He shouted an insult at his dad, which he took exception to.

Mr Walker said the two men squared up to each other before the dad was subjected to a "brutal attack" by both defendants.

He was punched repeatedly to the head.

One of the defendants also bit him on the head and his eye was gouged with a finger or thumb.

The dad's partner tried to intervene but Ryan swung a toaster around by its cord and it struck her on the head.

The siblings then continued to attack their father.

Police were contacted and Ryan threw a drink over an officer when she went to arrest him.

Mr Walker said the dad suffered serious injuries to his eye, including a rupture and a detached retina.

He has undergone surgery four times since the incident but has lost much of his sight in one eye.

In a victim statement he described how he continues to suffer pain and will have to take medication for the rest of his life.

He also feels unsafe walking around due to the vision loss and has to rely on others to guide him.

Ryan, 26, of Wyther Park View, Armley, also pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assaulting a police officer over the incident.

He pleaded guilty to further offences of racially aggravated common assault, criminal damage and failing to surrender to bail in relation to a separate attack on a taxi driver.

Those offences took place in February last year after he called a taxi to collect him and his friends from the Asda store in Kirkstall.

The taxi driver became concerned as all four passengers were heavily drunk and he asked for the fare to be paid up front.

Ryan became aggressive and shouted racial abuse at the driver then punched him to the side of the neck.

The defendant got out of the taxi and jumped up and down on the bonnet of a police car.

Lydia Pearce, mitigating for Ryan, said he accepted responsibility for causing the eye injury to his dad but had done so recklessly rather than deliberately.

Ms Pearce said Ryan stepped into the "large melee" in order to protect his sister.

The barrister said Ryan suffered from metal health problems and is on medication.

Aubrey Sampson, for Jordan, said his client had become involved in the violence to protect her brother and had not been in trouble in two years since the incident.

Mr Sampson said: "She accepts she was drinking to excess and when she was drinking she was getting into trouble and she was a violent person."

Judge Rodney Jameson QC jailed Ryan for 33 months.

Jordan, 25, of Leasowe Avenue, Hunslet, was given a two-year sentence, suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and to do 160 hours of unpaid work.