Blood 'covered Leeds shop floor' as thug beat pal unconscious when he 'tried to kiss him'

Shocked bystanders had to intervene when Heath Roden repeatedly punched the victim, even after he lost consciousness, in Thorpe Lane Express in Middleton.

The incident at around 5pm on March 31 was caught on the store’s CCTV, which was played for the judge at Leeds Crown Court this week.

Roden, 28, was arrested a short time later and said he had been drinking. The victim was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with a suspected broken nose and badly swollen eye. The court heard he was covered in blood, as was the Thorpe Lane shop floor.

Roden, of no fixed address, later admitted a charge of ABH. Mitigating on his behalf, Gabrielle Wilks said he had shown remorse and had not “minimised” the impact of the attack.

She said he and the victim had been friends at the time and had been drinking together that day. She said Roden was not a heavy drinker.

Roden said his friend had “got in his face” in the shop and tried to kiss him, with Roden then “blowing his fuse”. She said: “He is ashamed of his behaviour. He attacked on the spur of the moment. He was clearly shocked by his own actions.”

Sign up today and get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox, with the YEP’s free newsletter

She said that Roden was not in work but was the primary carer for his one-year-old son.

Judge Simon Phillips KC gave him a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months. He told him: “It was a vicious attack of length on him. He did not defend himself and you struck him repeatedly.

“He went to the floor and you persisted in your attack against him. A lot of his blood was shed. You were clearly the aggressor.”

He gave him 100 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation days and gave him an exclusion order, banning him from the shop for two years.