Leeds man had cheekbone replaced after ‘unprovoked’ head-butt attack at York station

The 34-year-old man from Meanwood was badly hurt as he tried to protect his friend from an assault by Shaun Illingworth, who this week was given a ten-year sentence by a judge in York.

The victim was walking with his friend, a 24-year-old man from Horsforth, when he was approached by Illingworth at York station in April last year.

Illingworth head-butted the 24-year-old man in the face, leaving him with a cut to his eye. When his friend tried to intervene, the attacker then head-butted him, before repeatedly punching and stamping on him as he lay on the floor.

The 34-year-old man, who now lives in Manchester, lost consciousness and woke up a short while later in an ambulance, according to British Transport Police.

Both men were taken to hospital, the 24-year-old victim suffered damage to his hand and had cuts to his head glued by medics, while the 34-year-old from Meanwood required an operation to replace his cheekbone.

Illingworth and his 21-year-old sister Zoe fled, but officers discovered them hiding in bushes nearby shortly after the incident and they were arrested.

Shaun and Zoe Illingworth were sentenced at York Crown Court on Thursday. Shaun, who had previously pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, was given a 10 year sentence for grievous bodily harm.

This consisted of six years imprisonment and a further four years on license after the judge deemed him to be a ‘dangerous offender, and a ‘significant risk to the public’.

Zoe Illingworth was sentenced to a three-month jail term suspended for 18 months. She was electronically tagged and placed under a curfew order between 8pm and 6am.

Detective Sergeant Matt Davies of British Transport Police said: “This was a completely unprovoked and violent attack on two men who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The level of violence used by Illingworth is quite simply shocking. He stamped on his victim’s head a number of times causing his to fall unconscious and resulting in him having a complex operation to have his cheekbone replaced.

“Now, not only will Illingworth now have to serve a lengthy jail term for his deplorable actions, but he was deemed as a dangerous offender by the judge and a significant risk to the public which means once he is released from prison he will also be required to spend the rest of his sentence on licence.”