Ripon man jailed 5 years for GBH and sex assault

A man has been jailed for five years for sexually assaulting a woman and wounding a man by smashing a bottle of vodka over his head.

Daniel John Wrightson, 35, sexually assaulted the woman at a property in Ripon and in a separate incident subjected a man to a horrific, unprovoked beating which left the victim needing hospital treatment for a head wound.

He appeared for sentence on Friday (June 9) after pleading guilty to sexual assault and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Paul Abrahams said that the Ripon woman, who was much older than Wrightson but can’t be named for legal reasons, was attacked in the spring of 2021.

She had told Wrightson to stop after he stroked her back and an intimate part of her body, but he carried on regardless.

He then tried to kiss her and “grabbed” her on intimate areas. He then asked her for sex which she refused.

In a separate incident in 2021, he attacked a man on the driveway of the victim’s home in Ripon.

The named victim had been talking to a neighbour “over the fence” when Wrightson marched up to him and headbutted him. He then struck him over the head with a full vodka bottle, before punching and kneeing him to the face.

He then pulled the man to the ground, before one of Wrightson’s relatives intervened and pulled him off the helpless victim.

When that named witness walked away, Wrightson went back over to the victim and punched him repeatedly as he was lying on the ground.

Wrightson came back a third time, punching the victim repeatedly before “staggering across the drive”.

Marriage breakdown

The victim needed hospital treatment for cuts to his head and face. He also suffered chest and abdominal pain but mercifully his injuries were relatively minor.

He said the attack had “such a huge” effect on his life which had led to stress and depression and a “change in my personality”.

It had put so much stress on his marriage that it had since collapsed and he was now constantly “looking over my shoulder”.

The sexual assault victim, who had since sought counselling, described “the horror” of being attacked by Wrightson who was “obviously under the influence of something”.

She felt “scared and disgusted that he was forcing himself on me” and said she was struggling to overcome what happened to her and that she was “not sure I ever will”. She added:

Wrightson, then of Ripon, moved to Catterick Garrison following the incident and had lately been living in Kirkby Malzeard and working away in southern England.

He had 11 previous convictions for 17 offences including violence and public disorder.

Defence barrister Nicholas Askins said Wrightson had shown “genuine remorse” and had moved away from the area.

He said it appeared that Wrightson was “intoxicated through drink and drugs” during both incidents.

Recorder Aisha Wadoodi said the attacks had had a “considerable” impact on both victims and noted that Wrightson had several convictions for violence including battery.

Wrightson was jailed for five years and one month. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.