TEENAGE HAMMER THUG LEFT VICTIM BLIND
14 YEARS IN JAIL FOR VIOLENT YOB
A DRUG dealing teenager who left a man permanently blind in a frenzied hammer attack has been jailed.
In a horrific assault, Jack Halliwell, of Stockport, struck his victim up to 12 times before taking a picture of him as he lay unconscious and posting it on social media.
The 40-year-old victim was repeatedly hit with a hammer in the attack, which took place in the space of just three minutes inside a flat in Arnold Street, Nantwich.
Halliwell had been using the flat as a place to deal drugs and it is believed a dispute had taken place between him and the victim over a debt, before the teenager carried out the brutal attack.
Now, the 17-year-old has been given a 14-year sentence after being convicted of attempted murder. He was given an extended licence period of three years.
A judge at Chester Crown Court lifted a reporting restriction so the teenager could be named.
On sentencing Halliwell, Mr Justice Butcher told him: “Within three minutes of his (the victim) entering, you had subjected him to a frenzied and brutal attack with the hammer which you had been keeping beside you on the bed. “You intended to kill him. “Shockingly, however, what you did was to take a photograph of him in that state, before calmly taking your possessions and leaving the scene. You subsequently sent that photograph to others, showing off what you had done.
“I have been left in no doubt that you are dangerous.”
Following the assault, the severely injured victim was left alone in a bedroom. He was only found four hours later after an anonymous call to the police.
‘He was beaten so brutally he was left unrecognisable’ 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 never regain his sight.”
The court heard that after the attack on Sunday, July 26 2020 at 4.30pm, the teenager fled the property. He ran to a nearby address, called for a taxi and waited to be collected. Ten minutes after leaving the taxi, he sent the photo he had taken of the victim to a contact on social media.
A second man, aged 42, was found not guilty of attempted murder.