Two Ripon men have been jailed after a teenager was “hunted down” in the street, run over by a car and shot with a Taser.

The “callous and cowardly” attack in Ripon left the young victim screaming in agony on the pavement with a broken leg as his attackers sped from the scene in a Volkswagen Polo, York Crown Court heard.

Today (December 1), Liam Mayhew, 18, who was driving the Polo, and Nixon Newton-Hayes, 22, who Tasered the boy while he was lying helpless and seriously injured on the ground, were jailed for a combined five years for their “joint attack”.

Newton-Hayes, of Bondgate, Ripon, was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and carrying a prohibited weapon following a trial at the same court in September. Mayhew, also of Bondgate, was found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Prosecutor Adrian Strong said the teenage victim was walking down a street near Ripon city centre just before 8pm on March 9 when a Volkswagen vehicle, driven by Mayhew, stopped in the road, “close to him”.

Two men got out, “one from the front-passenger side and one from the rear”. One of those men was Newton-Hayes. It was unknown who the other passenger was, but it’s believed he may have been carrying a weapon, possibly a knife.

“(The victim) saw Newton-Hayes with a Taser,” said Mr Strong. He added:

'Warning' shot

After getting out of the car, Newton-Hayes fired a “warning” shot to let the victim know “what was coming” as the boy ran away down the street.

He was chased by Newton-Hayes and the unidentified male, as Mayhew pursued him in the car.

The boy ran around a corner, followed by the pursuing vehicle which was driven at “excessive” speed and mounted the pavement.

The vehicle struck the boy from behind which, according to the prosecution, was deliberate.

Newton-Hayes then ran up to the stricken boy lying in agony on the pavement and shot him three times with the electric stun gun, added Mr Strong.

The boy suffered a broken leg - described as an open fracture where the shinbone had pierced the skin - after being hit by the car. He also suffered a double fracture of his other foot.

Newton-Hayes and the other man then got into Mayhew’s vehicle which was driven off “at speed”.

They abandoned the car on a pavement during the getaway in Ripon and got into another vehicle which was driven towards Harrogate.

The teenage victim was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by ambulance, where he was treated for multiple injuries including bruising to his head, neck, hands and elbows.

He had surgery to reset his badly broken leg and a further operation to insert metal plates and screws into his foot which had been broken in two places.

He spent two weeks in hospital before being discharged with a plaster cast and, although the plates were removed from his foot during an operation in July, the screws remain to this day.

'I feel like I'm constantly looking over my shoulder'  

Mr Strong said that hours after the incident, Mayhew surrendered to police because he knew they were looking for him. Newton-Hayes was arrested at his home the following morning.

Newton-Hayes was charged with ABH and possessing a prohibited weapon designed for the discharge of an electric shock because he had fired the Taser repeatedly at the boy who was already in “intense pain”.

He denied the allegations, claiming he wasn’t the person who was carrying the Taser. Mayhew claimed initially that he wasn’t the driver.

In a victim statement read out by the prosecution, the boy said he had been profoundly affected, both physically and psychologically, by the attack.

“I now don’t go out by myself and make sure I’m with my mates,” he added.

The victim said: “I feel like I’m constantly looking over my shoulder.”

He said he now avoided “certain parts of Ripon” and that since leaving hospital in April, he had felt “completely useless” and “relied on my family for everything”.

He was unable to do everyday tasks including washing himself, which made him feel “embarrassed and lonely, down and depressed”.

He was on painkillers including morphine for months after the incident due to the intense pain and cramping in his legs, which left him practically immobile.

Doctors told him that the “trauma and scars” would be permanent and that he would get arthritis at a relatively early age. He had also been told that “both my legs and my left foot would always be weak”.

He said that after being knocked over by the car, he felt “completely helpless and paralysed”.

He said he had already missed out on so much due to his shocking injuries and that the two attackers had robbed him of “memories I can’t get back” and dented his career options.

'A callous and cowardly attack' 

Newton-Hayes had three previous convictions for five offences including carrying an imitation firearm and assaulting emergency workers including a police constable.

His barrister Shila Whitehead said the father-of-one had mental health issues and hadn’t been taking his medication.

Mohammed Rafiq, for Mayhew, said the authorities’ attempts to rehabilitate his client had had little effect, but he had kept out of trouble since the incident and had observed a doorstep curfew since his arrest.

Judge Sean Morris told the defendants:

Judge Morris added:

He said that despite both defendants having mental health issues, the only sentence for such serious offences could be an immediate term of imprisonment.

Mr Morris said that Newton-Hayes’s offences were aggravated by his record and jailed him for three years and three months.

Mayhew was given two years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution, although he will serve less than half of that in custody before his release, minus the 132 days he had spent on a qualifying curfew as part of his bail conditions.

He was banned from driving for two years and eight months.