Harrogate Porsche driver who killed cyclist was ‘scrolling’ through social media

A Porsche driver from Harrogate knocked down and killed a cyclist while scrolling through social media posts on his phone, it’s alleged.

James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents during the covid lockdown when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, on the A168 between Wetherby and Boroughbridge, a jury at York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Anne Richardson said that at the time of the collision, Mr Bryan’s Instagram and Facebook accounts were open.

She said Mr Bryan must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park.

She said that Bryan had been taking cocaine and drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.

Although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine in his system.

Ms Richardson said that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the fatal crash, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.

‘Incredibly sad case’

Ms Richardson said that forensic analysis of Mr Bryan’s phone showed that at the time of the collision he had his Facebook and Instagram apps open.

He was on the way to drop some groceries off at his parents’ house. They were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm on May 10, 2020.

Mr Jackson was wearing a helmet on a straight stretch of road where visibility was good. Ms Richardson said:

“The front of the Porsche collided with the rear of Mr Jackson’s bike and Andrew Jackson came off his bike, went up in the air and hit his head on the windscreen and roof of the car, and landed on the road behind the car.”

“He was pronounced dead at the scene by an off-duty intensive-care consultant.

“This is an incredibly sad case. A young mother has lost her husband and father to two (very young) children. Her in-laws have lost their only son.”

Mr Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, has already admitted that he caused the death of Mr Jackson by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle, but he denies causing death by dangerous driving on the grounds that he wasn’t using his phone at the time.

Head injuries

The prosecution insists that Mr Bryan’s driving was dangerous because he “wasn’t looking at the road ahead of him” as his car approached Mr Jackson. Ms Richardson said:

“If he had been (looking ahead of him) he would have had an uninterrupted view of the road (for) over 500 metres.”

Mr Bryan, who had been at a barbecue the night before to celebrate his birthday and set off for home early the following morning, called 999 moments after the accident and told a call operator he thought the cyclist was dead.

Other motorists, including the off-duty doctor and his medically trained wife, were on the scene in minutes and called police and an ambulance, but Mr Jackson had already died from head injuries.

Police arrived at the scene and arrested Mr Bryan, who was “very distressed” and appeared to be in shock.

A roadside drug-impairment test showed that Mr Bryan was positive for cocaine but not over the specified legal limit.

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Subsequent forensic examination of his phone showed that it was unlocked in the moments before the crash and the Instagram and Facebook apps were open.

Mr Bryan was taken in for questioning and told police that after arriving back home from Cheshire he decided to do some shopping for his parents who were shielding because his father had cancer.

He said that Mr Jackson, who lived locally, “came out of nowhere” but then claimed the cyclist had veered into the middle of the road and that he had tried to overtake him, only for the cyclist to “swerve into my path”.

An accident investigator who carried out a reconstruction of the crash said that the bike was not in the middle of the road, but on the edge of the carriageway, near a grass verge, and that Mr Bryan had not tried to move around the bicycle.

Mr Bryan told police he had gone to Cheshire the day before to view a “potential development site” and that he wanted to become a property developer.

In one message found on his phone on the way back from Cheshire, Mr Bryan told a friend he was hungover from the night before and was “concerned about being late for his parents with their shopping”.

In another sent by Mr Bryan to a female friend while he was at the birthday party, he told her: “I’m so drunk I can’t see.”

‘Fit to drive’

Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Mr Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.

She claimed that Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.

Witnesses including the off-duty doctor and his wife said they saw the cyclist with torn clothes lying on his back in the road.

The doctor said that when he checked for a pulse there was none, and he certified him dead at the scene.

He said that when he told the Porsche driver the cyclist was dead, he “moved backwards, crouched down and put his hands on his head”.

He said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.

The trial continues.

Harrogate solicitor who rammed car into wife’s home spared jail

A drink-driving solicitor rammed his car into his wife’s home following months of marital discord in which he falsely accused her of being unfaithful and forced her to flee the house.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, a former “high-powered” solicitor from Harrogate, waged an unrelenting harassment campaign against his now-former partner.

It culminated in the early hours of Boxing Day last year when she was awoken by a terrible “smashing” noise, prosecutor Brooke Morrison told York Crown Court.

The ex-partner initially thought it was an “explosion” but then heard an engine revving and locked herself inside a bedroom as she was too scared to go out and see what it was. 

She called police and it was only when officers arrived that she dared venture outside her home in Slingsby Walk, near the Stray.

To her horror, she realised it was Wade-Smith, who had rammed his Nissan Qashqai into her front door.

Police helped Wade-Smith out of the car, which was damaged along with the front of his ex-partner’s semi-detached home. He was taken into custody where a breath test showed he was nearly twice the drink-drive limit. 

Wade-Smith, a Cambridge law graduate whose legal specialisms included planning and environmental matters, was arrested and charged with harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property and drink-driving.

He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today when the court was told about the couple’s toxic relationship and Wade-Smith’s unrelenting harassment of the victim.

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At a previous hearing, Wade-Smith had contested the parameters of a proposed restraining order to keep him away from his former partner because he was worried that the exclusion zone would prevent him going to Waitrose, the upmarket superstore. 

Ms Morrison said the former couple had been in a relationship for about 22 years, but in 2021 Wade-Smith’s behaviour changed after he started drinking following seven years of abstinence.

He would “disturb (his wife’s) sleep”, waking her in the middle of the night and demanding she “answer questions” about her so-called “secret lives” and their sex life.

Wade-Smith also demanded on “multiple occasions, in the middle of the night”, that she leave the house.

He would shout at her on “multiple occasions” in the street. She became so frightened she began “spending large amounts of time overnight sitting on her doorstep or wandering the streets”.

Fearing for her safety

In November last year, she started receiving nasty messages on a “daily basis” from Wade-Smith, who made further groundless accusations about her.

On one occasion inside the house, he told her: “If you don’t go now, I’ll kick you down the stairs.”

Fearing for her safety and worried she would be physically attacked, the former partner called police. 

Wade-Smith was arrested and bailed on the proviso that he didn’t contact her or go to her address.

But the ex-lawyer, who had worked for a number of legal firms in Yorkshire before latterly being self-employed, allegedly sent her more messages while on bail, culminating in the car-ramming incident on December 26.

Following his arrest for that incident, Wade-Smith gave police a prepared statement in which he admitted that the relationship was “not good” but initially denied that the messages and his behaviour were threatening.

In a victim statement read out in court, the former partner said Wade-Smith’s behaviour had left her with health problems and had affected her “financially and psychologically”.

She said she was trying to sell the house of which Wade-Smith had joint ownership and there had been contact between their respective solicitors.

She said that at this stage in her life she he hadn’t expected to be in “this insecure position” and been put under pressure to sell the high-market-value house which needed considerable repair.

Defence barrister Alasdair Campbell said that Wade-Smith had severe mental health problems at the time of the offences and became bipolar in middle age. 

A doctor’s report confirmed he had been suffering from psychosis and “hypermania”, which had been exacerbated by alcohol and “led to a very unpredictable life for both of them”.

Mr Campbell added:

“Because of his previous life (as a solicitor) he clearly has intelligence (and) he has remorse.”

‘A tragic case’

Wade-Smith, a keen cyclist, was currently homeless after spending nine months on custodial remand awaiting sentence.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Wade-Smith: 

“This is as tragic case – tragic for you, but especially tragic for your wife.

“You (were) a man of good character and you were a successful solicitor who worked extremely hard in a high-powered position, but unbeknown to you, you became bipolar.

“Your wife recognised that there was obviously something wrong with you and you acted as a completely different person to the man she used to know and love.

“At the time of these awful experiences for your wife, you were suffering with episodes of mania and psychosis, not helped by the fact that you tried to self-medicate with alcohol.

“You became delusional and acted in a way you would not have acted had you not been affected with this problem.”

Mr Morris said that due to this “strong” personal mitigation, he would not be sending Wade-Smith to jail, nor imposing a suspended prison sentence because the former lawyer would be released immediately without accommodation due to the nine months he had spent on remand.

Instead, Wade-Smith received a three-year community order with 40 rehabilitation-activity days “to help “rebuild your life”.

Mr Morris said a community order with support rather than a suspended prison sentence was more “appropriate”, otherwise Wade-Smith would be released from prison “unaided” and with nowhere to live and “on the streets”.

Restraining order

Wade-Smith was also made subject to a restraining order, for an indefinite period, which prohibits him contacting his wife or going near her home in Slingsby Walk. 

The initial map proposed by the prosecution asked for Wade-Smith to be banned from going within 500 metres of his former partner’s house in Slingsby Walk, but Wade-Smith asked for the radius to be halved so he could go to Waitrose.

The judge said that the definitive map would be redrawn if the victim wished to alter it. 

Wade-Smith also received a 17-month motoring ban for drink-driving. 

The Probation Service said that Wade-Smith would be treated as a “priority” case for emergency housing and that the local authority would find him homeless accommodation in Harrogate. 

Boroughbridge man faces jail after man dies

Two men are facing jail following the death of a man in “terrible” scenes of violence.

Thomas Cressey, of Church Lane, Boroughbridge, and Benjamin Calvert, 22, from Sowerby, appeared at Leeds Crown Court this morning when judge Tom Bayliss KC told them both to expect jail.

Calvert, of Kings Gardens, pleaded guilty to manslaughter or unlawful killing of Alan Barefoot in Thirsk Market Place.

Cressey had already admitted affray, or threatening unlawful violence towards Mr Barefoot, when he appeared at York Magistrates’ Court in August.

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The incident occurred in October last year.

Judge Bayliss adjourned the case for sentence in about five weeks’ time. He told the defendants:

“This is a terrible matter. You, Benjamin Calvert, pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing of Alan Barefoot.

“You must understand that inevitably there’s going to be a prison sentence and you must prepare yourself for that.”

He told Cressey that he too shouldn’t be “too optimistic” about his prospects because he was “part of this (violence)”, adding:

“This is a serious matter and you must prepare yourself for custody as well.”

Both men were granted bail until the sentence hearing on October 21.

Man jailed for biting police officer in Harrogate

A notorious thug has been jailed for biting a police officer following a disturbance in Harrogate town centre.

Adam Snowdon, 31, was arrested following a drunken incident in Parliament Street and brought into Harrogate Police Station, where he bit one officer and allegedly assaulted two others.

He was charged with affray and assaulting three police officers. 

He initially denied all allegations but admitted affray on the day of trial. 

Snowdon, of Lupton Close, Glasshouses, was tried by a jury on three allegations of assaulting a police officer.

At York Crown Court yesterday (Monday, September 12), he was found guilty of one count of assaulting a policeman but not guilty of attacking the two others.

The substantive charge on which he was found guilty was biting a named officer at the police station on Beckwith Head Road on May 1. 

Prosecutor Ben Whittingham said that Snowdon was on a community order at the time for previous offences, including violence against police officers. 

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Defence barrister Allan Armbrister said Snowdon was “very much a loner” who desperately needed help after years of mental-health issues. 

He said Snowdon had not yet received that professional help and would now “lose that chance” due to the inevitable jail sentence for his “awful behaviour” in the town centre in May.

He added that Snowdon had recently become a father but any hopes of family life were now “completely lost” because his now-ex partner didn’t want “anything more to do with him”.

Snowdon, who was no stranger to prison, had been diagnosed with behavioural problems as a child.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he had “taken a chance” with Snowdon when he gave him a community order earlier this year, but jail was now the only option because of his “bad” record for violence.

He said although Snowdon didn’t start the violence in the town centre, it was a “prolonged incident thereafter, on a busy street where people are fed up with…drunken violence”. 

Jailing Snowdon for 19 months, the judge said he would reserve all future cases involving the Harrogate man to himself and would “come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you cause trouble in North Yorkshire’s towns and cities”.

Snowdon will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Former headteacher given community order for child abuse images

A former Harrogate headteacherhas been spared jail after he was found guilty of making over 3,000 indecent images of children.

Matthew Shillito, 43, repeatedly visited a Russian website where he viewed sexual images of children, York Magistrates’ Court heard.

Shillito, who was appointed headteacher at Western Primary School in 2019, was arrested after police searched his home in January 2020 and seized a Dell laptop and Macbook Pro, on which they found thousands of sexual images of under-age girls.

On Friday, district judge Adrian Lower told Shillito his teaching career was now “in ruins” as he handed him an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work.

Shillito was also placed on the disbarring lists preventing him from working with children ever again.

Shillito was convicted of the offences last month following a trial at the magistrates’ court. He had denied making 20 Category B images and 3,829 Category C images between September 2007 and December 2015, claiming the illegal images inadvertently found their way onto his devices while he was looking at other photographs online.

But judge Mr Lower found him guilty of both counts and said the evidence against the disgraced former teacher was “incontrovertible and inescapable”.

‘Repeat viewing’

Shillito – who was previously headteacher across the Goldsborough Sicklinghall Federation of schools – had claimed that he was searching for holiday snaps because he had an interest in photography.

He also said he visited several websites for educational purposes because he was “dissatisfied in the way sex education was being taught at school”.

But prosecutor Philip Morris said that Shillito – who was understood to be in a relationship until shortly before his arrest – had visited some of these websites “30 or 40 times”. One of these websites was called ‘Pre-Teen Love’.

He added:

“It is deliberate and intentional, repeat viewing of (indecent) images and (web) pages.”

There was evidence of Shillito viewing the illicit images  in 2011 and then again in 2015 when further images and “albums” with titles such as ‘Girls Line Up’ and ‘Girls Love Girls’ were found.

He had used search terms such as ‘Lolita’ while trawling the web for the illicit material, said Mr Morris.

‘Previous good character’

After being arrested in January 2020, Shillito was immediately suspended from his teaching post and subsequently dismissed.

Kevin Blount, mitigating, said that Shillito had since “re-trained in another role” following the collapse of his teaching career.

He added:

“Clearly these are matters that are going to live with him for the rest of his life.”

Judge Mr Lower told Shillito:

“I know you are a man of [previous] good character. You have worked in the teaching profession for a number of years, achieving the rank of being a headmaster and I’ve no reason to [doubt] that you did all that was expected of you in the course of your employment.”

He added, however, that Shillito’s “disgrace is complete” following the discovery of the sordid images.

He said Shillito had a “corrosive, addictive interest” in viewing indecent images of children, adding:

“You will realise… that you are never going to work in the teaching profession again, a profession to which… you gave your all.

“This kind of behaviour is serious and the law-abiding public… would expect me to send a strong message to people like you, that if you are guilty of this behaviour you are going to be punished for it and you can have no complaint about that.”

Imposing the 18-month community order, Mr Lower told Shillito:

“The very fact that you have been found guilty and the consequences that follow from that is probably more punishment to you than anything else [in terms of sentence] I can propose.”

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As well as unpaid work hours, Shillito will also have to complete 24 days’ rehabilitation activity. He was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his internet activities and allow police to monitor his online use.

He was also ordered to pay £600 prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

None of the offences related to Shillito’s employment at any of the schools where he worked.

Detective Constable Andy Lowes, of North Yorkshire Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team, said:

“North Yorkshire Police is committed to preventing child sexual abuse, helping victims and bringing offenders to justice.

“Those who obtain and distribute child-abuse material directly contribute to the sexual exploitation of children. This is because the children involved are continually re-victimised every time the images are viewed.”

Teen denies Harrogate cannabis farm charge

A Vietnamese teenager has denied being concerned in the production of Class B drugs after police discovered a cannabis farm in Harlow Hill, Harrogate.

Manh Nguyen, 18, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court today (Monday, September 5) when his case was adjourned for a trial in January next year.

Mr Nguyen was arrested after police raided a property in West Lea Avenue, in the Harlow Hill area, last month.

It’s understood that during a search of the property, they found about 500 cannabis plants and other items linked to drug production.

Mr Nguyen was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation when he appeared in court via video link today, aided by a Vietnamese interpreter.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial starting on January 25 next year. A further case-management hearing will be heard on November 11 this year.

Mr Nguyen was remanded in custody until that date.

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Cocaine dealer jailed for ‘peddling misery’ in Harrogate

A cocaine dealer who “peddled misery” in Harrogate has been jailed for nearly three years after being snared by an undercover cop posing as a drug addict.

Jack Milner, 25, bragged to the officer that he was “making a good wage” from his trade but he was being played from the outset, York Crown Court heard.

Milner supplied cocaine to the plain-clothed officer on three separate occasions in December 2019, said prosecutor David Povall.

Mr Povall added:

“The officer was part of a wider operation focusing on county lines (drug networks) and it appears the defendant has crossed their sights.”

He said although Milner wasn’t involved “in that level of criminality”, he was working with others to supply the Class A drug.

The undercover officer, who used a pseudonym, was introduced to Milner on December 9 when he was supplied with cocaine. 

The following day, the officer called Milner to arrange another deal and he was “again supplied with (cocaine)”.

On the third day, the officer rang the same number and spoke to a different man who supplied him some wraps of heroin and cocaine.

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The court heard that Milner only supplied cocaine and was not involved in the dealing of heroin. However, the officer later saw Milner with this “second man…giving him permission to supply the officer with a further wrap”.

Milner, of Harehills Lane, Leeds, was duly arrested and found with a “burner” phone – a cheap, pre-paid mobile which criminals often use to evade detection.

He initially denied any involvement in Class A drug-dealing and maintained his innocence until the day of trial in June, when he finally admitted supplying cocaine.

Living on the streets

Nick Cartmell, mitigating, said Milner was living on the streets with his girlfriend at the time and had pneumonia. 

He said although Milner clearly made a “quite significant” financial gain, it was simply to buy his “next McDonald’s (meal)…and not going hungry”.

Mr Cartmell added:

“He was a fool and he has a penalty to pay.

“The defendant appears to have been operating a telephone number for the supply of drugs with others and been directly involved in handing them over to addicts.”

He said that Milner stood to make a “significant financial gain” although the amount was unknown.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Milner: 

“You were peddling misery on the streets and…that is very serious.

“You said to the undercover officer that you were being paid a good wage for what you were doing. In my book, peddling Class A drugs is so serious that there has to be an immediate prison sentence because there has to be a recognition of deterrence for others. 

“You were out and about distributing this filth on the streets. Who know how many lives you wrecked?”

Milner was jailed for two years and nine months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. 

Man jailed for stealing MBE medal in Harrogate burglary

A man has been jailed for over three years after he admitted stealing an MBE medal, jewellery and cash during a burglary at a woman’s home in Harrogate.

Shane Bainbridge, 31, broke into Patrycia Scott’s home in Wayside Avenue, Harrogate, and stole a “considerable quantity of personal items” including her MBE medal, prosecutor Brooke Morrison told York Crown Court.

Bainbridge, of King Edward Road, Ripon, was arrested nearby with a “couple of sacks containing (the victim’s) property”, she added.

He was charged with stealing jewellery, cash and the MBE medal during the burglary, which occurred on March 8.

Bainbridge denied the offence right up until the day of trial today (Monday, August 22) when he entered a last-minute guilty plea.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, jailed Bainbridge for three years and three months.

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Woman who headbutted Harrogate nightclub manager spared jail

A woman who headbutted a nightclub manager, busting her nose open, has been spared jail.

Jodie Milburn, 19, butted the victim with such force that blood “soaked” the wall outside the Viper Rooms in Harrogate town centre, prosecutor Eleanor Durdy told York Crown Court.

CCTV captured the moment Milburn repeatedly slapped the named woman, who was assistant manager at the popular nightclub, situated in the Grade II-listed Royal Baths building in Parliament Street.

With her arms restrained, Milburn, of Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, then head-butted the victim who was bleeding profusely.

Ms Durdy described the drunken attack, on August 15 last year, as “prolonged and persistent”.

A witness said there was “lots of blood, so much so that the blue wall was soaked in it”.

The victim’s clothes were also covered in blood and she was said to be “stunned”.

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Milburn set upon the manager after what she claimed was an incident inside the club involving a man and one of her family members, but this “wasn’t supported by the evidence”, the court heard. 

It was initially suspected that the victim’s nose was broken but this didn’t prove to be the case. 

Milburn was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm but denied the offence. 

A jury found her guilty following a trial earlier this month.

She appeared for sentence yesterday when her barrister Andrew Stranex said that an immediate jail sentence would scupper her hopes of working abroad.

He said she had a troubled upbringing but had done well at college, had good references from her employer and had a new job lined up overseas.

‘Disgraceful piece of behaviour’

Judge Simon Hickey described the attack as a “disgraceful piece of behaviour”.

He told Milburn: 

“What you did…was throw your head back when (the victim) was simply doing her public duty…and head-butted her on her nose. 

“She reeled backwards and blood poured out of her nose and onto her clothing. A witness said (the victim) was stunned and remained stunned for quite some time. It was a nasty injury (and) you were clearly in drink.”

However, Mr Hickey said the incident was “clearly out of character” and Milburn had “strong personal mitigation” including good character reports.

The judge said that for those reasons, he would not be locking her up and preventing her taking up her new job abroad.

Instead, Milburn was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation “for the hurt and the pain” caused to her.

Chef jailed after shooting teenage employee in the eye at Harrogate pub

A “bullying” chef who shot his baker in the face, blinding him in the eye, has been jailed for more than two years.

Brad Tristan Plummer, 25, fired the gas-powered ball-bearing gun at Aidan Corbyn at their workplace, the Nelson Inn on the A59 near Harrogate.

The metal ball bearing lodged in Mr Corbyn’s left eye and he was taken to hospital for an operation to remove the bullet, but his loss of vision would be for life, York Crown Court heard.

Plummer admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but denied possessing a firearm with intent to cause Mr Corbyn fear of violence during the incident, which a judge described as “dreadful”.

In July, a jury found him not guilty of the second count, but he was remanded in custody to await sentence for GBH.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw said Mr Corbyn was busy at work in the kitchen when Plummer walked in and announced in a “bragging” way that he had an air pistol.

Plummer started pointing the pistol at Mr Corbyn’s face, “pretending to shoot him”.

‘Laughing and joking’

At that stage, it appeared that Plummer had the safety catch on, but Mr Corbyn was so worried he tried to get away from him. However, his boss followed him, “laughing and joking and pointing the gun at Mr Corbyn”.

Things turned uglier when Plummer “rested” the pistol on Mr Corbyn’s face for about five seconds and then pointed it at him “from a distance of about one metre”. Mr Shaw said:

“He pointed the gun straight at his face [and] the air pistol discharged.

“Aidan Corbyn was shot in his left eye, the ball bearing lodging in his eye, effectively blinding him.”

He said Mr Corbyn was “scared” of Plummer, who was one of four bosses at the pub.

Mr Corbyn, who was 18 at the time, said he was “miserable” at work due to Plummer’s bullying behaviour towards him and that he made several job applications because he wanted to leave the pub business.

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A waitress who witnessed the incident, which occurred at about noon on September 29, 2020, said she saw Plummer “pointing the gun” at Mr Corbyn and resting it on his forehead for “five to 10 seconds”.

Plummer, who lived at the pub on Skipton Road, was arrested and told police he thought the air pistol wasn’t loaded when he shot Mr Corbyn. The prosecution accepted he would not have known there was a ball bearing inside the gun chamber.

‘Grave and permanent’ injury

At the sentence hearing yesterday, Mr Shaw said Plummer had been “bullying” the victim and shot him from a distance of a few feet. He added:

“This has resulted in the loss of stereoscopic vision and inevitably affects his ability to judge distance.”

“The injury sustained is particularly grave, permanent and irreversible (and will) have a substantial, lifelong effect on [Mr Corbyn’s] ability to carry out his normal, day-to-day activities and which may impact on his work ability.”

Mr Shaw said that in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting, Plummer had “abused his position of power over the victim” by bullying Mr Corbyn and it was also alleged that he had assaulted him, causing bruising to his arm. However, Plummer was never charged with any prior assault.

Mr Corbyn, described as a “very gentle character”, said the incident had had a massive effect on his life. He added:

“I thought I had managed to come to terms with what happened, but recent confirmation from a doctor that the sight (in my left eye) would not return was devastating.”

He had suffered from depression and nightmares about the shooting and had lost all his confidence. He now had difficulties even with cooking, reading and crossing the road, and he was still having regular hospital appointments to check his eye condition.

He said he now “walked into things regularly” and had to abandon plans to take up driving lessons. He still suffered from a “pulsing” eye ache.

Heavy drinking

Mr Corbyn, who has since moved to Leeds to take up a university course, said the entire aftermath of the incident had been “very traumatic” and at one stage he had lapsed into heavy drinking to cope.

His GP had recently prescribed him anti-depressants and his family had also been badly affected. He now only saw blackness with his left eye.

Defence barrister Deborah Graham said Plummer was otherwise a hard-working family man of hitherto “exemplary good character” who had shown “clear” remorse.

Judge Simon Hickey said the “dreadful” incident had resulted in a “grave” injury and a “life-changing” effect on Mr Corbyn, “in that he’s now blinded in his left eye” and faced annual medical checks.

He said Plummer had abused his position of “leadership and power” at the pub by “bullying and intimidating this young man” in the days and weeks before the incident. He told the disgraced chef:

“Not only was he physically slighter than you but he was much younger and a very gentle character, easily intimidated, and [during the trial] he pointed out this game that was played, not in a jovial way… but in a more unpleasant and nasty way which resulted in some injuries.”

Plummer was jailed for two-and-a-half years, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

The judge banned him from keeping firearms for five years and ordered the destruction of the ball-bearing gun, as well as two air rifles and ammunition which Plummer had also kept on the premises.