A notorious York man has been jailed after he deliberately rode his bike into a stranger in York city centre, then punched him to the ground, knocking him unconscious and breaking facial bones, in a completely unprovoked and “random” attack.
William Allan, 30, punched the named victim repeatedly to the face with such force that it poleaxed him, York Crown Court heard.
The victim, who wasn’t known to Allan, suffered a catalogue of serious injuries including a fractured jawbone “extended to the teeth”, a fractured eye socket, multiple nasal-bone fractures and a large wound to his head, said prosecutor Amelia Taylor.
Allan was chased by the victim’s niece from the scene of the attack outside the Silver Spur bar in Bridge Street where the victim had simply been chatting to people on a night out when his attacker rode up and “barged into him” with his bike.
When his niece caught up with Allan on Ouse Bridge, a verbal altercation ensued, Allan telling her: “Shut the fxxx up or I’ll one-shot you like I one-shotted your uncle and I’ll throw you in the river and throw your uncle in after.”
Ms Taylor said it wasn’t known how Allan knew that she was the victim’s niece because Allan and the victim were complete strangers.
Following the altercation on the bridge, Allan rode off on his bike towards the city centre.
He was arrested at his home three days later and charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm. He refused to answer police questions but admitted the offence when it reached court.
Allan – formerly of Leeman Road, York, but currently of no fixed abode – appeared for sentence yesterday (Wednesday) after being recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a four-and-a-half-year jail sentence for a sexual assault for which he was on licence when he attacked the man on the evening of 20 June.
Ms Taylor said that police were called out to reports of an attack outside the Silver Spur where a man had been left unconscious. The victim was taken to York Hospital.
His serious facial injuries were inflicted by a barrage of punches, “causing him to lose his balance, fall to the floor and hit his head on the pavement, causing him to lose consciousness.”
Doctors at York Hospital closed his wounds with sutures and he later underwent specialist surgery to repair his facial, eye and jaw fractures. He was discharged from hospital on 23 June, three days after the attack.
In a statement read out by the prosecution, the victim said he felt “disgusted” by being “randomly” attacked by a stranger.
“I don’t understand why he did this to me,” added the father-of-one.
“It was an unprovoked attack which has caused me a lot of pain. I already suffer from severe anxiety and I’ve had a panic disorder for about 20 years.”
Allan’s 20-year criminal record comprised 56 previous offences including serious violence, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, sexual offences, burglaries, handling stolen goods, public disorder, breaching a non-molestation order and damaging property.
His solicitor Neil Cutte said that Allan, who had been drinking before the attack, could offer no explanation “as to why he did this to a stranger who was out in York on a night out”.
Judge Simon Hickey described Allan as a “volatile and unpredictable young man” with a terrible criminal record.
He described the incident in Bridge Street as a “completely unprovoked” attack which had caused the victim “grave harm”.
He noted that Allan had already been recalled to prison “for a significant time in the future” for failing to comply with his licence conditions.
For the attack in Bridge Street, he jailed Allan for 20 months, which he said was the “least sentence” he could impose for “attacking a man for absolutely no reason, knocking him to the floor, leaving him unconscious in our city centre”.
