Thug who beat Leeds woman with a fan blasted by judge who called his apology 'a charade'
A thug who beat a woman with a metal fan was heavily criticised by a judge, who claimed he only admitted his guilt when the victim turned up for the trial.
Patrick Boyle was jailed at Leeds Crown Court was the savage attack in which he beat the woman mercilessly in her own Beeston home.
The 26-year-old changed his pleas to guilty for ABH and threatening to cause criminal damage on the day his trial was due to begin, then claimed he was apologetic.
But he was criticised by Judge Andrew Stubbs KC, who described it as an “act” and a “charade”.
Judge Stubbs told him: “You have shown no remorse for what you have done. The fact that you are still blaming your victim means there’s no mitigation available to you for saying you are sorry.
“That’s just an act. You strung it out as long as you could, hoping that the victim would not come to court.
“You go through this charade with the probation officer saying you’re sorry, but you’re not.”
The court heard that Boyle and the woman had been friends, but had argued over Boyle’s new girlfriend and he became paranoid about the relationship.
In April 2023 he threatened to damage the victim’s property. Then on July 12 last year, he accused the woman of withholding details about his girlfriend.
He threatened to “break her face” unless she told him, prosecutor Becky Jane said.
Two days later he came to her home, was intoxicated, and accused the woman again of lying about his girlfriend.
He left but came back two hours later and made physical threats again. He then picked up the metal fan and began striking her with it.
The woman cried for him to stop and the metal poles of the fan snapped. He then hit her with the broken pieces.
The court was told she had bruises all over her body. Boyle was arrested three days later and gave a no-comment interview.
Boyle, of Cottingley Springs, Gildersome, has six previous convictions for eight offences.
Mitigating, Shannon Woodley said he had been held on remand for around seven months and pointed out that he has no previous convictions for violence.
She said: “He is still a very young man. He accepts his actions have put him there. It’s certainly been a wake-up call.”
Judge Stubbs told Boyle that his probation report made for “depressing reading” and it was found he was “likely to hurt people very badly in future”.
Standing in the dock, Boyle tried to claim he had not hit the woman all over her body with the fan, but was told to be quiet by Judge Stubbs or he would be removed from the court.
He gave him 32 months’ jail.