Hartlepool thug is jailed for 16 years after brutal attack

Lee Clarke, 31, punched a man he did not have any quarrel with to the ground before stamping on his head and body 15 times leaving him with brain damage.

Teesside Crown Court heard the victim’s life was probably saved by the quick arrival of the air ambulance and paramedics.

Clarke attacked the victim in his own home above Catcote Road shops, Hartlepool on November 16 last year.

The victim got caught in a dispute between Clarke and his friend who was staying with the victim.

Earlier that night, Clarke kicked in the door of the mother of the man he was looking for in breach of a restraining order.

He then went round to the victim’s flat and forced his way in where a fight broke out with Clarke punching the victim.

His brother Tony Clarke, 32, also briefly joined in the attack landing punches on the victim, said prosecutor Jamie Hill QC.

The brothers got back in their car when the man Lee Clarke was looking for threw concrete at them from the flat roof.

Clarke went to approach the front door again but was intercepted by the victim.

Mr Hill said: "He was punched by Lee Clarke and fell in an uncontrolled way to the pavement.

“CCTV shows what appears to be a total of 15 stamps, many of them to [the victim’s] head and face area although some lower down on the body."

Clarke and his brother fled when the other man threw a brick hitting Lee Clarke on the head.

The victim spent nine weeks in intensive care including several weeks in a coma.

A statement by his parents described him as ‘a shell’ of his former self.

Clarke, formerly of Wingfield Close, Hartlepool, was originally charged with attempted murder but pleaded guilty to grievious bodily harm with intent.

He also admitted a till snatch from a convenience shop on Powlett Road on June 2 when he and an unidentified accomplice got away with £400.

The following night he punched the driver of a Mercedes car in Barton Avenue and drove off in the stranger’s vehicle crashing into other vehicles including one with children in who were treated by an ambulance.

Clarke’s lengthy record includes biting part of a person’s ear off for which he was jailed for five and a half years in 2012.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said: "You plainly are an aggressive man with a proven track record of violence to anyone who you cross.

"In simple terms, you are a danger to the public.”

Nicholas Lumley QC, defending, said: “He knows full well how badly he behaved. He’s ashamed.

"His response was entirely disproportionate.”

Passing an extended sentence, Judge Ashurst said: “The events of November 16 were extremely shocking. The impact on [the victim] has been very serious."

He said offences of GBH with intent “do not come much more serious than this savage and brutal assault”.

Tony Clarke, of Woodstock Way, Hartlepool, was jailed for two years after admitting grievous bodily harm.

Judge Ashurst said he played a minor role and did not intend to cause really serious harm.

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