Guilty plea ends trial into alleged Harrogate cocaine racket

The trial of three men allegedly involved in a cocaine-and-cannabis racket potentially worth millions has ended prematurely after one entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and two others were acquitted. 

Kole Lleshi, 54, of Hargrove Road, Harrogate, Allaman Tatariku, 25, from Hampshire, and Gavin Woodley, 44, of Ashfield Road, Harrogate, were on trial for their alleged part in the lucrative narcotics conspiracy run by an Albanian organised-crime group.

The trial began at Leeds Crown Court on Monday when the prosecution told the jury how “kilo blocks” of cannabis and cocaine were being transported between London and Harrogate where they were sold on the street.

However, on the second day of the trial, Kole Lleshi and Woodley, who both admitted involvement in the supply of Class A and B drugs but denied being part of the wider conspiracy, were acquitted of the more serious charge after the prosecution decided to offer no evidence against them.

Tatariku, of Penhale Road, Portsmouth, ultimately admitted two counts of conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs and will be sentenced on a date to be fixed. 

The gang’s ringleader, former Harrogate restaurant worker Ermal Biba, 38, is also due to be sentenced after already admitting his part in the mega-money drug plot, along with Kladji Lleshi, 23, of Kinloss Court, London, and Adam Sarkowski, 41, formerly of Wedderburn Close, Harrogate. 

Dritan Lleshaj, 53, formerly of Spring Mount, Harrogate, had already been jailed and deported for possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis. 

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Biba, of Trafalgar Court, Harrogate, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis between June 2019 and May 2022.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said the conspirators, mostly Albanian nationals, were also involved in a £1.5 million cannabis farm in Rochdale which was connected to the Harrogate operation.

Biba was the lynchpin between two distinct conspiracies in which, after his first foot soldiers were arrested, he recruited others, incliuding Kladji Lleshi, Tatariku, Woodley and Sarkowski. 

Biba was released under investigation following his initial arrest in May 2020 for the first conspiracy, which involved Kole Lleshi and Dritan Lleshaj, but continued operating “dealer lines” in Harrogate run by an “organised-crime group”.

Kole Lleshi admitted his part in the drug operation by transporting a kilo of cocaine from London to Harrogate in September 2019. 

However, he denied being involved in the wider conspiracy.   

Harrogate ‘drug run’

In September 2019, Biba arranged a “drug run” which involved Kole Lleshi driving to London and bringing back Class A drugs to Harrogate.

Biba was in contact with an unknown man in London from whom Lleshi was ostensibly to collect the drugs. A few weeks later, Biba sent Kole Lleshi a text message saying: “We go tomorrow.”

The following day, Lleshi set off for London again in a Kia vehicle, ostensibly for a drug pick-up, and returned to Yorkshire where he was stopped by police on the A1 near Doncaster. During a search of his car, officers found a kilo block of high-purity cocaine in a plastic bag. The drugs had a “wholesale” value of £25,000.

The following day, Lleshaj was arrested after meeting Biba in a Harrogate restaurant. Lleshaj was found with £419 in cash and five wraps of cocaine. 

He told police he was homeless, but they found the keys to his house in Spring Mount and searched it. They found “various quantities” of cocaine and about £2,000 cash.

Woodley played the role of “facilitator” by allowing the gang to supply drugs from his rented house in Ashfield Road, where they found 264g of high-purity cocaine and two large “vacuum packages” of cannabis worth up to £11,000.

Biba, Lleshaj, Tatariku and Kladji Leshi were said to be regular visitors to this property where police also found “debt lists”, cash, digital weighing scales and hydroponic equipment.

Woodley was subsequently arrested at his then home in Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, where police found a small amount of cocaine and cannabis and a torch-like stun gun. 

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Ms Robinson said Greater Manchester Police raided an industrial unit in Rochdale in March last year when they arrested two Albanian men after they found a large cannabis grow on an “industrial” scale. 

Those two men admitted cultivating cannabis at the factory which had a harvest of 144 kilos with an estimated “street value” of £1.5 million.

Ms Robinson said:

“(Police) surveillance had been carried out and members of the organised crime group in Harrogate regularly visited this industrial estate in Rochdale.

“ANPR (cameras) showed Mr Biba’s vehicle travelling in that direction and Kladji Lleshi and Allaman Tatariku’s phones showed they travelled down the M62 from Harrogate to Rochdale.”

Biba, Kladji Lleshi and Sarkowski all admitted their part in that cannabis conspiracy. 

Kole Lleshi admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and had already served a 40-month prison sentence for that, but denied having knowledge of the wider conspiracy, claiming he was “simply on an errand” to collect something from London in September 2019 but that he didn’t know what that was. 

Woodley, who was said to have worked in Harrogate restaurants with Biba, admitted possessing a prohibited weapon, namely the stun gun, and allowing his premises to be used for the supply of drugs, but was acquitted of all other charges including conspiracy in the wider drug plot. 

He was given a 23-week suspended prison sentence.

Biba, Sarkowski, Kladji Lleshi and now Tatariku will be sentenced at a later date.

Beckwithshaw attempted murder accused told boy ‘this needs to happen’

Warning: this article contains information some people may find upsetting.

A man accused of slitting a boy’s throat told the youngster “this needs to happen” before cutting his neck, a trial has heard.

The man from Beckwithshaw tried to do the same to a young girl who was “hysterical” and had blood on her shirt and cuts on her fingers, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard.

The accused, who is in his 40s, is charged with two counts of attempted murder. 

He appeared for the second day of his trial yesterday when jurors heard harrowing testimony from two workmen who found the children, one of whom had a gaping neck wound and the other bloodied fingers.

One of the workmen said the seriously injured boy’s neck wound was so wide “it was like a Cheshire- cat smile”.

His colleague said he initially thought it was a “Halloween prank” at first but he “quickly realised it wasn’t” when he saw the extent of the boy’s injury.

The witness said:

“His injuries were horrific, like a horror film.

“He had his throat cut open and I could see inside the cut. He had his hands across his throat. There was blood everywhere.

“He seemed in shock and really distraught. I couldn’t believe what was happening; it was struggling to register with me and I was also in shock.

“I was standing on the street. I was worried for my own safety.”

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The workman called to his colleague to get something to stem the child’s bleeding and he wrapped a hoodie around the boy’s neck.

The witness called an ambulance and told them:

“I thought it needed police as well as it slowly started to sink in what had happened.

“I was really worried about the situation and wanted the emergency services to get there as quickly as possible.”

He said the young girl who was also bleeding was “very distraught and upset”.

Alleged victims ‘really distraught’

Police arrived, followed shortly afterwards by an ambulance crew. The children were put in the ambulance and taken to hospital.

The witness’ colleague, who was also named in court, said he heard “what seemed like a kid’s scream or shout”.

He said he saw the young boy holding his neck to stem the flow of blood.

He added:

“The wound looked really bad.

“It was like a Cheshire-cat smile and went wide across his neck and I could see inside the wound. I ran to get my hoodie. I put the hoodie on the boy’s cut and he held it there around his neck. 

“He was a bit teary before I put the hoodie on his neck but that seemed to calm him down a bit.”

He said he saw a young girl “with blood on her…top”.

He added:

“She was crying her eyes out; she was really distraught.”

She told the witness that the man who had cut the boy’s throat had also “tried to get at her as well”.

He added:

“She was obviously really scared and she was hysterical.

“I reassured her that he wouldn’t hurt her as I was there to protect her. I put my arm around the girl…to reassure her that she was safe now.”

He added:

“I felt so annoyed and shocked.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening. The little girl was hysterical. I put my arm around her.”

He said the children seemed “petrified” and that the girl told him she heard the man say “this needs to happen” before launching the alleged attack.

He said that the street seemed eerily quiet at the time and that he and his colleague were the only ones who went to help.

‘Paranoia and drinking’

A female witness for the prosecution who knew the accused man said he had mental health problems including bouts of paranoia and that his drinking made this worse. 

Prosecuting barrister Robert Stevenson alleged that the accused slit the boy’s throat with a 10-inch serrated knife during the incident in June last year.

Neither of the children can be named for legal reasons. 

The trial continues. 

Albanian crime group ran huge cocaine racket in Harrogate, court hears

An Albanian organised crime group ran a cocaine and cannabis racket in Harrogate potentially worth millions, a court heard.

The mega-money conspiracy involved “kilo blocks” of cocaine and cannabis being transported between London and Harrogate where the drugs were sold on the street, a jury at Leeds Crown Court was told yesterday.

Prosecutor Katherine Robinson said the conspirators, mostly Albanian nationals, were also thought to be involved in a £1.5 million cannabis farm in Rochdale which was connected to the Harrogate operation.

Yesterday, Kole Lleshi, 54, of Hargrove Road, Harrogate, Gavin Woodley, 44, of Ashfield Road, Harrogate and Allaman Tatariku, 25, of Penhale Road, Portsmouth appeared for the first day of their trial after they each denied playing a part in the wider conspiracy.

The gang’s ringleader, former Harrogate restaurant worker Ermal Biba, 38, had already admitted his part in the lucrative drug plot, along with Kladji Lleshi, 23, of Kinloss Court, London, Dritan Lleshaj, 53, formerly of Spring Mount, Harrogate, and Adam Sarkowski, 41, formerly of Wedderburn Close, Harrogate.

Biba, of Trafalgar Court, Harrogate, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis between June 2019 and May 2022.

Ms Robinson said Biba was the lynchpin between two distinct conspiracies in which, after his first foot soldiers were arrested, he recruited three others, namely Kladji Lleshi, Tatariku, Woodley and Sarkowski.

She said the first conspiracy involved Biba, Kole Lleshi and Dritan Lleshaj, who had also admitted, and been jailed for, possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis. Lleshaj was deported to his homeland.

‘Dealer lines’

Biba was released under investigation following his initial arrest in May 2020 for the first conspiracy but then recruited another group of conspirators and continued operating “dealer lines” in Harrogate run by an “organised-crime group”, added the prosecuting barrister.

Kole Lleshi was arrested and admitted his part in the drug operation by transporting a kilo of cocaine from London to Harrogate in September 2019. However, he denied being involved in the wider conspiracy.

Ms Robinson said police surveillance officers had been tracking Biba, Lleshaj and Kole Lleshi during the first conspiracy in 2019.

They recorded Biba and Lleshaj “meeting regularly” and were monitoring their whereabouts when, in September 2019, Biba arranged a “drug run” which involved Kole Lleshi driving to London and bringing back Class A drugs to Harrogate.

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Biba was in contact with an unknown man in London from whom Lleshi was ostensibly to collect the drugs, added Ms Robinson.

A few weeks later, Biba sent Kole Lleshi a text message saying: “We go tomorrow.”

The following day, Lleshi set off for London again in a Kia vehicle, ostensibly for a drug pick-up, and returned to Yorkshire where he was stopped by police on the A1 near Doncaster. During a search of his car, officers found a kilo block of high-purity cocaine in a plastic bag wrapped in a sock. The drugs had a “wholesale” value of £25,000.

The following day, Lleshaj was arrested after meeting Biba in a Harrogate restaurant. Lleshaj was found with £419 in cash and five wraps of cocaine.

He told police he was homeless, but they found the keys to his house in Spring Mount and searched it. They found “various quantities” of cocaine and about £2,000 cash.

High-purity cocaine

She said Woodley played the role of “facilitator” in the conspiracy by allowing the gang to supply drugs from his rented house in Ashfield Road, where they found 264g of high-purity cocaine and two large “vacuum packages” of cannabis worth up to £11,000.

Biba, Lleshaj, Tatariku and Kladji Leshi were said to be regular visitors to this property where police also found “debt lists”, cash, digital weighing scales and hydroponic equipment for growing cannabis.

Woodley was subsequently arrested at his then home in Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, where police found a small amount of cocaine and cannabis and a torch-like stun gun.

Ms Robinson said Greater Manchester Police raided an industrial unit in Rochdale in March last year when they arrested two Albanian men after they found a large cannabis grow on an “industrial” scale.

Those two men admitted cultivating cannabis at the factory which had an estimated harvest of 144 kilos with an estimated “street value” of £1.5 million. Ms Robinson added:

“(Police) surveillance had been carried out and members of the organised crime group in Harrogate regularly visited this industrial estate in Rochdale.

“ANPR (cameras) showed Mr Biba’s vehicle travelling in that direction and Kladji Lleshi and Allaman Tatariku’s phones showed they travelled down the M62 from Harrogate to Rochdale.”

Woodley’s red Transit van also made journeys to Rochdale, said Ms Robinson.

Biba, Kladji Lleshi and Sarkowski all admitted their part in that cannabis conspiracy. Tatariku said he was involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis but that he was not involved in a conspiracy with other people.

Woodley said although he was the tenant at the Ashfield Road property, he “couldn’t remember” the name of the landlord and “knew nothing” about the drugs found there. He denied playing any part in drug supply but said he knew Biba, with whom he worked in Harrogate restaurants.

The trial continues.

Trial begins into man charged with attempted murder in Beckwithshaw

The trial has begun of a man accused of the attempted murder of two children in a village near Harrogate.

The man, who is in his 40s, appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday when barrister Robert Stevenson opened the case for the prosecution.

The defendant, of Otley Road, Beckwithshaw, denies two counts of attempted murder. He was arrested following an incident on June 20 last year.

The alleged victims cannot be named for legal reasons.

The trial is expected to last five days. 

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‘If you swim with sharks, you get bitten,’ judge tells Harrogate cocaine dealer

A Harrogate drug pusher has been jailed for over two years after police caught him with over 50 grammes of high-purity cocaine.

Robert Marsh, 27, was stopped by a plain-clothed officer near his home on Burley Bank Road, Killinghall, in March last year. 

The officer found just over two ounces of cocaine inside Marsh’s car, prosecutor Adam Walker told York Crown Court.

Marsh was arrested and a subsequent search of his home revealed a cornucopia of drug items including weighing scales and dealer bags, the court heard.

Police also found cocaine inside a Tupperware box and £90 cash inside a cupboard, added Mr Walker.

He said the 55g of cocaine found inside the vehicle had a street value of up to £5,550. The value of the drugs and the period of time that Marsh had been dealing suggested he stood to make “significant” profits.

Police also seized two mobile phones from Marsh, which showed he had played an “operational or managerial” role in the drug racket. He had been giving people drugs “on tick” and was “managing a customer’s debt”.

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Defence barrister Susannah Proctor said Marsh, of Pinemoor Caravan Park, had never been in trouble before and was easily led due to his vulnerabilities. 

She said Marsh “struggles intellectually” and found himself hanging around people he met at house parties who had persuaded or coerced him to deal drugs for them, although the prosecution didn’t accept this claim.

Gambling debt

Ms Proctor added Marsh had a £7,000 gambling debt at the time and sold drugs to try to pay that off. He had struggled to pay his rent due to his gambling and moved into a caravan owned by his parents.

She added:

“He’s going to lose his home (and) he’s going to lose his job.”

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

“Prior to starting drug dealing you had been going to house parties and you realised there was more money to be made and got involved in drug dealing as a means to an end.

“That involved having money put into your bank account, giving people cocaine on tick and being caught by police (with) very-high-purity cocaine in your car, which on the street would be worth thousands of pounds.” 

He said Marsh was “not the most robust of characters” and now found himself in a “nightmare” of his own making. 

Mr Morris added:

“Cocaine is an absolute scourge.

“If you swim with sharks, you are going to get bitten.”

He said Marsh “had to go to prison because Class A dealers must go down, otherwise people might be tempted to earn a little extra cash like you”.

Marsh was handed a 30-month jail sentence of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Harrogate man jailed for ‘humiliating and degrading’ sex attack

A man has been jailed for a “humiliating and degrading” sex attack on a young woman at a property in Harrogate.

Andrew Reekie, 33, left the woman “haunted” and an emotional wreck following the “absolutely disgusting” assault, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said the victim tried to kick Reekie off her during the assault and told him to “get off”. She was crying afterwards and told a friend what had happened.

Reekie told her she “wouldn’t dare ring the police” but she plucked up the courage to do so.

Reekie, of Bramham Drive, Jennyfields, was brought in for questioning two months after the attack but refused to answer police questions.

He was charged with sexual assault but denied the offence, only to plead guilty on the day of trial in January. He appeared for sentence yesterday.

The court heard he had previous convictions for serious violence, public disorder, acquisitive crime, possessing an offensive weapon, robbery, criminal damage and breaching court orders.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that “life as I knew it came to an abrupt and sudden halt” following the sex attack. She added:

“I was paralysed (with fear) and completely helpless.”

She said she was “powerless” to stop Reekie and she had felt an inexplicable but “overwhelming shame” since the incident, adding:

“I felt completely alone and unable to trust anyone.

“The sound of his voice will (continue) to play in my head. It was like a knife in my guts.”

Nightmares and shame

She said that after the attack she “couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep or socialise”.

She had nightmares of other women being sexually assaulted and she was “more and more anxious that it was going to happen to somebody else”.

She said that even reporting the attack only “intensified the shame” and she developed serious mental-health problems.

It had affected her work and she had felt “traumatised” about the prospect of giving evidence in court.

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She said that before the incident she was a “young woman full of confidence, looking forward to a bright future”, but Reekie had “took my young spirit and crushed it”.

She had sought professional help for her problems but there were still days when “I can’t get out of bed because I’m too haunted by what happened”.  She added:

“I so desperately want my life back – the life (Reekie) took from me.”

‘A humiliating and degrading attack’

Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said Reekie was a father and had since found work.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, described the incident as a “very nasty sexual assault”. He added:

“This was a humiliating and degrading attack.

“It has had a devastating effect on (the victim).”

He told Reekie:

“What you did was absolutely disgusting. You treated (the victim) like…your own personal pleasure ground.”

He said it was clear Reekie had refused to admit his guilt until the day of trial “in the hope that (the victim) wouldn’t have the courage to attend”.

Reekie was handed a 13-month jail sentence of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.

 

 

Rogue builder who stole jewellery and cash from Harrogate couple jailed

A rogue builder hooked on gambling and cocaine stole prized jewellery from a Harrogate couple who entrusted him with the key to their house.

Sam Brotherston, 32, from Hampsthwaite, was contracted to renovate the couple’s home on Beckwith Road and was left to his own devices while the victims were out at work, York Crown Court heard.

Soon enough, the couple, who had pinned their hopes on Brotherston converting the property into their dream home, started noticing money and jewellery going missing from an upstairs bedroom, said prosecutor Sam Roxborough.

He said the couple were quoted over £13,000 for the work including building materials and labour.

Brotherston, who was self-employed, asked for £4,289 to buy materials such as a door and steel joist for work which was not only never completed, but left the couple with an open sewer in their kitchen and demolished walls. 

To add insult to injury, he never bought the materials and instead spent it on his rampant gambling and cocaine habit.

Initially trusting of Brotherston, the couple handed him the money and he began work on the property in March last year when the named victims gave him a key to their house.

But on March 18, just nine days into the job, the female victim noticed £20 was missing from her purse. Just under two weeks later, she noticed that more cash had disappeared while she was away from home.

Brotherston had helped himself to £80 in total, as well as two white gold rings, which had also been kept in the bedroom. 

The victim did her own investigatory work by visiting pawnbrokers in Harrogate to see if Brotherston had tried to sell her jewellery. She found one of her rings up for sale in a local jeweller’s.

Mr Roxborough said:

“Unfortunately, one of the rings was scrapped by the jeweller’s.”

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Police recovered the other ring when they turned up at the jeweller’s a few days later.

Staff told officers that Brotherston had sold three other gold and silver rings at the jewellers. He stole those pieces from a friend while carrying out work at her home in Brunswick Drive, Harrogate.

The victim, who was named in court, didn’t want to press charges because she was a friend of Brotherston’s family, but he admitted stealing her rings. 

Mr Roxborough said the Beckwith Road couple were devastated to hear that Brotherston, of Hollins Lane, Hampsthwaite, had used the money deposited into his account to place bets “at various betting establishments”.

He was arrested following an investigation and charged with burglary, two counts of theft and one of fraud. He admitted all four offences and appeared for sentence today.

‘Sick to the stomach’

The female victim of the Beckwith Road offences said she and her husband had trusted Brotherston, only for him to steal from them on three separate occasions over a period of nearly a month.

She said the rings were of sentimental value and she had been left feeling “violated, scared, shocked and saddened”, and she was now struggling to sleep.

One of the rings, which was never recovered, belonged to her husband’s grandmother and one was a wedding gift. The other was a present for her 30th birthday.

She said:

“Seeing the rings for sale in the pawnbrokers was shocking and left me feeling sick to the stomach.”

She was now scared to be alone in her home and she and her husband had changed all the locks and installed security cameras.

She said that Brotherston’s shoddy, “half-completed” work had left them with an open sewer and that walls had been knocked down which would need rebuilding. Wires were “hanging out of the walls” and the living room was left a mess. 

She added:

“This work was going to complete our dream of providing a lovely family home for my young children to grow up in.

“This is devastating. It’s going to be hard for me to trust anybody again.”

She and her husband were now faced with spending the same amount of money again to put right what Brotherston had ruined. 

‘Damaging acts of dishonesty’

Defence barrister Emma Williams said that Brotherston, a father-of-one, had been caught up in a “gambling and drug-use cycle” but that his behaviour was “out of character”. The offences had led to the break-up of the relationship with his partner. 

Judge Sean Morris described Brotherston’s offences as “very mean and hurtful and damaging acts of dishonesty”.

He told Brotherston: 

“You were snorting your way through cocaine bought with £10,000 worth of gambling winnings. No doubt having blown all that, you then decided that you needed (the victims’) money to carry on snorting cocaine and enjoying the lifestyle.

“At the same time as you were pilfering hard-earned money from that couple and not doing the work that was required, you were creeping around their house going into their bedroom and you stole some rings that had real sentimental value.

“That’s had an awful effect on the lady of the house. They will have been left in a shocking situation and that is all down to your greed and dishonesty.”

Mr Morris said the offences were “too mean” and “appalling” for there to be anything other than an immediate jail sentence.

Brotherston was jailed for 13 months. 

Police officer cleared of sexual assault in Harrogate

A police officer has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a cemetery in Harrogate.

Christopher Hudson, 32, a Harrogate police constable, was accused of assaulting the woman in a car park at Stonefall Cemetery on Wetherby Road.

However, following a trial at Leeds Crown Court, a jury today unanimously acquitted Mr Hudson of the allegation.

The prosecution had alleged that Mr Hudson had stroked the woman on the back of the neck and ear and “pulled her…towards him” before kissing her.

Prosecuting barrister Gerald Hendron alleged that Mr Hudson then took hold of her hand and placed it on an intimate part of his body despite her telling him “no” repeatedly.

He alleged that Mr Hudson then put his hand on the woman’s inner thigh and that she was “shocked and confused”.

Mr Hendron said the woman had sought help from a counsellor about stress which was brought on by the alleged incident in February 2021.

‘Inconsistencies’

However, defence barrister Rebecca Hadgett said there were “inconsistencies” in the woman’s account of events and that Mr Hudson “never touched her in the way she alleges”.

Mr Hudson, of Hollin Terrace, Huddersfield, was arrested in March 2021 when he denied sexually assaulting the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was suspended from his job pending the outcome of the trial.

Mr Hudson, who worked for West Yorkshire Police before joining the North Yorkshire force in 2020, walked free from the dock when the jury returned its verdict a short time after retiring to deliberate.

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Man denies two counts of attempted murder in Beckwithshaw

A man will face trial accused of two counts of attempted murder following an incident in a village near Harrogate.

The man, in his 40s, appeared at Leeds Crown Court today when he pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder. The alleged victims cannot be named for legal reasons.

The defendant, of Otley Road, Beckwithsaw, was arrested following an incident in the village on June 20 last year.

Mrs Justice Lambert adjourned the case for a trial at the same court on March 27. It’s expected to last five days.

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Two men spared jail for attacking Harrogate neighbour with iron bar

Two middle-aged Harrogate men who took it in turns to beat a man with an iron bar have been spared jail.

Stuart Hall, 50, and David Winter, 49, set about the victim outside his house following a neighbours’ dispute that turned into terrifyingly ugly violence.

Prosecutor Richard Holland said it was the named victim who started the trouble when he came out of his home brandishing an iron bar and using the weapon to strike both Winter and Hall, who lived next door.

Mr Holland said that Hall and the victim “did not get on”.

The victim was aggrieved that Hall, who ran a repair garage, parked his cars outside his home and Hall complained about his neighbour feeding birds which had soiled his roof.

Matters came to a head on July 31 last year when Hall and Winter, who are close friends, returned from the pub.

The victim came running out of his house with an iron bar and struck them with it, but the two men wrestled the weapon from him and “responded with overwhelming force”, said Mr Holland.

They struck the victim with the metal bar and Winter punched him repeatedly after he was knocked to the ground.

Threats to kill

Neighbours recorded the violence which showed that Winter had “completely lost control”.

Hall was punching and striking the prone victim with the weapon as he crouched over him. The court heard Winter added expletives as he shouted:

“I’m going to kill you. Don’t you ever cross us again.”

Winter continued to punch the victim as he told him:

“You are going to die. People are going to kill you.”

He then kicked the victim repeatedly while he was lying helpless on the ground.

Witnesses said both men were hitting the victim with the iron bar at different points during the attack. Mr Holland said:

“They left him lying on the floor and he [then] staggered into his address.”

Neighbours called police who arrived to find the victim “covered in blood”.

He suffered bruising including to his cheekbone and near his eye and a 4cm cut to the back of his head which had to be glued shut. He also suffered a broken finger.

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Hall, of Larkfield Drive, and Winter, of Newby Crescent, admitted wounding. Winter also admitted making a threat to kill.

They appeared for sentence at York Crown Court yesterday, when the prosecution read out a statement from the victim who said he was now “really paranoid” and “always looking over my shoulder” when out in public.

He said the attack had affected his mental health.

Following their arrest, Hall and Winter, who are both working men with families, told police that the victim had come running out of his house brandishing the iron bar and shouting, “Come on then!”

Mr Holland said that Winter had played the “leading role” in the ensuing attack which was “prolonged and persistent”.

Robert Mochrie, representing both defendants, said they were both remorseful and neither man had been in trouble before.

‘Out of character’

Judge Simon Hickey told the two men:

“Both of you know at your age, 49 and 50, you shouldn’t be standing in a crown court dock in front of a crown court judge.”

He said although the victim had started the trouble, they had “attacked a man on the ground [with an] evil weapon”, adding:

“You could have killed him or left him with life-changing injuries.”

He criticised Winter for his “obscene remarks” to the victim and threats to kill, although acknowledged they were “completely out of character”.

He also noted that the two defendants had been injured themselves and one had been struck on the forehead with the iron bar.

Mr Hickey said that despite the seriousness of the violence, he could suspend the inevitable jail sentences in both their cases because they would lose their jobs and their homes if they were imprisoned and the impact on their families would be “devastating”.

Winter was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and Hall received a nine-month suspended jail term. They were each ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work and pay £600 prosecution costs.