MAN BLINDED IN HAMMER ATTACK

THUG, 17, CAUSED HORRIFIC INJURIES THEN SENT IMAGE OF UNCONSCIOUS VICTIM ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A MAN was left permanently blind by a brutal hammer attack carried out by a drug-dealing teenager.

In a frenzied two-minute assault the victim’s life was changed forever when he was struck up to 12 times.

But his attacker took a picture of him as he lay unconscious then posted it to a contact on social media.

Now the 17-year-old from Manchester who inflicted appalling injuries on the 40-year-old victim, has been found guilty of attempted murder.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of the vicious assault following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.

He is due to be sentenced on April 13. The victim was repeatedly hit with the weapon inside a flat in Arnold Street, Nantwich and left in a bedroom. He was only found four hours later after an anonymous call to the police.

Detective Inspector Claire Jesson, of Crewe CID, said: “This was a truly horrific and distressing attack, which will stay with the victim, his family and the officers who attended the crime scene, for the rest of their lives.

“He was beaten so brutally that he was left unrecognisable and could only be identified by his tattoo - and then he was left alone in a room in severe pain with horrific injuries.

“I am pleased a jury has found the teenager guilty and justice has been served. However the victim’s life has changed forever and he will continue to be on a long road to recovery and will never regain his sight.”

The court heard that the victim arrived at the flat at 4.30pm on Sunday, July 26, last year. The 17-year-old had been using the flat as a place to deal drugs and it is believed that a dispute had taken place between him and the victim over a debt.

Shortly before 5pm two women attended the flat, saw the badly beaten victim and tried to help him.

CCTV footage, forensic analysis and house-to-house enquiries by police identified the 17-year-old as being involved and a huge manhunt led to his arrest in Gorton.

He had tried to burn the clothes he was wearing on the day of the incident but a jacket seized from his address had traces of the victim’s blood on it.

A second man, aged 42, was found not guilty of attempted murder.