Father and stepson jailed for vicious attack on Texan businessman at Malton wedding party

Nicholas Borras, 51, and his stepson Chris Sharpe, 23, attacked the “gentle, timid” American as he was having a quiet drink in the corner of the bar at the Old Lodge hotel in Old Maltongate.

The drunken pair had confronted the itinerant businessman over a “completely” unfounded allegation regarding a wedding guest even though he had never left the bar and was not part of the celebrations, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Verity Barnes said there was a “verbal exchange” in which the men asked the named victim where he was from and when the businessman replied politely, Borras punched him “numerous times”.

This caused the victim to stumble back into the hotel’s foyer where he was dragged to the ground by Borras while Sharpe kicked and stamped on his head and torso.

The victim, from Houston, was knocked unconscious for about three-to-four minutes as bar staff and other wedding guests pulled the attackers away.

He “amazingly” suffered only a small cut to his nose but was taken to York District Hospital by ambulance for tests for any cranial injuries.

Ms Barnes said that “very fortunately” the victim didn’t suffer any injuries to his skull or brain.

He woke up in hospital in a “confused” state about eight hours later with pain to his neck and ribs.

He had no recollection of the attack other than being confronted by the two men.

He was discharged soon afterwards but such was his confused state that he had to be helped by strangers to find his way back to the hotel.

A female bar worker said it appeared to be an unprovoked attack and that she had “never seen an assault like this before”.

She said the level of violence “really shocked me; it was just horrible”, and that it had affected all staff.

Borras and Sharpe, both from Leeds, were arrested and owned up to the attack which occurred at about 10pm on August 19 last year.

They each admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and appeared for sentence on April 16.

The victim, who was in Malton for business and was a regular visitor to the area and the Old Lodge, was described by hotel staff as a quiet, “timid” man who was “always pleasant” and spent his evenings in the bar “keeping himself to himself”.

In a statement read out in court, the victim said he been attacked “for no apparent reason”.

He was “shocked and traumatised” by the incident which left him with a “fear of being alone” in public.

Council worker Borras, of Naburn Walk, Whinmoor, told police he had drunk 20 pints of Strongbow cider and a few shots and had started drinking at noon, about 10 hours before the attack.

The prosecution said that neither Borras nor Sharpe had been in trouble before.

Defence barrister Glenn Parsons, for Borras, said his client was a married, hard-working man who had expressed “obvious remorse and sorrow” for the attack.

He said that “everything (Borras) has worked for over the last 30-to-40 years is (now) in jeopardy”, including his job and his home.

Dan Lee, for Sharpe - formerly of Whinmoor but now of Magnolia Road, Seacroft - said the father-of-one, who worked as a joiner, was “utterly ashamed of what he did and has brought shame on himself and his family”.

He said that Sharpe’s behaviour was “totally out of character” and he too was a hard-working man who earned good money.

Judge Simon Hickey said that both defendants were otherwise “impeccable, exemplary” characters who had led industrious lives, but he couldn’t overlook the fact that a “completely innocent” man had been stamped on in what was a “joint” attack, despite only Sharpe delivering the kicks.

He said Sharpe had “disgracefully weighed in with a number of stamps to the face and torso” of a “completely defenceless” man.

He said although both men had acted “completely out of character” and were clearly remorseful, it had to be immediate jail for such a barbaric attack.

He handed each man a 10-month jail sentence, but they will only serve half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.