Twenty-pints-a-day thug 'caused carnage' in Leeds city-centre pub after knocking out two women

Horrific CCTV footage of the brutal assaults was played to Leeds Crown Court which showed Damien Reid throwing repeated blows at the pair in The Ship on Briggate.

The 40-year-old, who has a history of violence, was jailed after he admitted two counts of ABH on the women who were left “in a heap” on the floor next to the bar.

Prosecutor Emily Hassell said the two victims had gone into the pub at around 10pm on March 10 last year, ordered drinks and sat down. However, due to a previous injury to one of the women, it causes her leg to involuntary kick out.

It happened as a member of staff was walking by, and it was initially believed she was deliberately trying trip them up, so their drinks were confiscated and were asked to leave. After explaining the situation, they were permitted to stay and given their drinks back.

A short time later they got up to leave and moved towards the exit with one saying they felt Reid was staring at them. Reid was stood at the bar and CCTV showed words were exchanged between him and the pair as they were about head through the main door. He then lashed out, punching one to the face.

A scrap then ensued as the women retaliated with Reid throwing more punches and kicking them as they lay on the floor. At one point he went to stamp on one of the women but was dragged away at the very last moment.

Other patrons became involved and the two women both ended up “in a heap”, Miss Hassell said. One suffered a broken nose, ligament damage and bruising.

The court heard that Reid, of Winrose Grove, Belle Isle, has 10 previous convictions for 15 offences, including GBH without intent, battery and ABH. A probation report into his latest offending found that Reid was “very drunk” at the time of the latest attacks and that alcohol had become an issue since the break-up of his relationship. He was drinking up to 20 pints a day, the court heard.

The probation officer said that Reid, a father-of-two and a groundskeeper worker, “admitted getting involved in something that was not his business”.

Mitigating, Stuart Field said: “He has not been before the court for any substantive offence since 2016. Over the past seven years his life has changed, he has once again become a father.

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“He turned to alcohol for the loss he was feeling after the breakdown of his relationship. He was out of order and readily accepts that. He is bitterly sorry for what happened and apologises to the two complainants.”

Judge Simon Phillips KC, who said he watched the pub’s footage several times, told Reid: “There’s a pattern of violence that’s written large over your antecedent history.

“You started the violence. You are a powerfully-built man who does hard manual labour. You followed it up with a series of blows deliberately targeted to the head. You knocked one unconscious for two-to-three minutes and followed it up with a kick to the head.

“You were out of control, you caused carnage in that pub and persisted until both women were immobile.”

He jailed Reid for 18 months and gave him a restraining order of indefinite length to keep him away from the two women.