Killer had been jailed after street attack on disabled man

MURDERER Ieuan Harley has a catalogue of previous offences including a terrifying attack on a disabled man in Cardiff city centre, we can reveal.

The 23-year-old faces a life sentence after yesterday being found guilty of murdering child killer David Gaut.

But four years ago a disabled stranger on a mobility scooter had his eyes gouged until they bled when he was targeted by Harley, who was then still a teenager.

Patrolling police witnessed the assault on the victim, who suffers with muscular dystrophy, as he made his way to a shop in Queen Street at 10pm on December 27, 2014.

We reported how Cardiff Crown Court was told: “They suddenly saw Ieuan Harley, 19, with an arm around [the victim’s] neck in a stranglehold and a hand over his face.

“He had grabbed him from behind and started gouging his eyes after calling him an abusive name. The police officers saw blood in the victim’s tears and in the corners of his eyes.

“He was found to have damage to the cornea of one eye and later suffered an eye infection and had to be referred to an eye specialist.”

The court heard Harley, said to have had an abusive childhood which led to him becoming addicted to drugs at just 11 years old, was still angry when he kicked out a door of the police van on arrest, injuring an officer and then urinated over the walls of a cell he was put into at Cardiff Bay Police Station.

He was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to causing actual bodily harm, assaulting police and criminal damage.

The court heard the attack was “not out of character” for the teenager, who had already committed 70 offences despite not being 20.