A York man has been jailed for four years after breaking a woman’s jaw and attacking her partner amid scenes of absolute chaos and pandemonium inside a holiday cottage.
Daniel Banner, 35, flew into a drink-fuelled rage which was captured in chilling detail on a mobile-phone recording of the horrific incident in a cottage in Haworth, West Yorkshire.
On the footage, which was taken on one of the victims’ phones and played at York Crown Court yesterday (12 December), a woman was heard screaming.
There was shouting, grunting, swearing, the breaking of glass, the sound of punching and slapping and general commotion described as a “tangle of voices”.
Banner, whose girlfriend was pleading with him to stop, told the named male victim: “I’m going to smash your bird in front of you, mate. Watch me rip her fxxxxxx head off.”
As the terrified woman screamed, Banner, a burly figure, told her: “I’m going to choke you to death.”
Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said that during the fracas, the female victim suffered multiple fractures of the jaw and her partner was knocked unconscious by a single punch.
The couple, who didn’t know Banner until they met on their countryside break, had been out drinking with him and his partner earlier in the evening.
Mr Moore-Taylor said there was an argument between Banner and the named male victim inside a pub which culminated in the terrible scenes inside the cottage. Following the attacks, the victims sought refuge in a neighbouring cottage where police were called.
Permanent nerve damage
In addition to the multiple jaw fractures, the female victim suffered head injuries, numbness to her lip and bruising to her body. She had to have titanium plates inserted into her shattered jawbone and she was left with a small scar on her forehead.
She had permanent nerve damage and loss of feeling on one side of her face. She had suffered permanent damage to her teeth and gums.
She couldn’t eat solid food for six weeks and her injuries led to loss of income as she had to take time off work. She had spent £2,000 on dental work to repair her damaged teeth.
She had since suffered with severe depression and anxiety and had sought counselling.
Her partner sustained swelling to the cheekbone, a swollen and bloodied nose and a cut to the back of his head.
He had since suffered from headaches and anxiety and now rarely went out socialising. He too was forced to take time off work which resulted in him missing out on a promotion.
Banner, who was heavily drunk during the incident in September 2020, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to the female victim and assaulting occasioning actual bodily harm against her partner, but initially denied the offences, only to plead guilty on the day his trial was due to be held.
In July 2021, police searched his then home in Cornlands Road, Acomb, and found just under three kilos of cannabis which had been bagged up for sale. They also found weighing scales.
Mr Moore-Taylor said the drugs had a street value of just over £29,000.
Long criminal record
Banner, now of Birch Close, Huntington, was arrested on suspicion of drug supply but claimed he had been looking after the drugs for a dealer to whom he owed money.
He was charged with possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply but denied the allegation. He later admitted an alternative charge of allowing his premises to be used for the supply of drugs.
The prosecution accepted his plea and Banner appeared for sentence yesterday on all matters after being remanded in custody.
Mr Moore-Taylor said that Banner’s partner had invited the female victim back to the cottage where the York couple were staying while the men stayed on in the pub. Banner’s partner was sick at the cottage and the female victim helped her clean up the mess.
When Banner and the woman’s partner returned, Banner flew into a rage because of the “mess” in the bathroom. The female victim was about to leave but then Banner attacked her and her partner.
The court heard that Banner, currently of no fixed address, had been using cannabis for over 30 years.
His long criminal record comprised 28 previous convictions for 37 offences including violence, damaging property, public disorder, affray, producing cannabis, harassment, resisting arrest, breaching court orders and acquisitive crime.
Defence barrister Charlotte Noddings said the father-of-two had since cut down on his drinking and set up a window-cleaning business.
Judge Simon Hickey said it had to be a lengthy prison sentence due to the “severity of the beatings” which Banner had dished out to the two victims and the large amount of cannabis that was found at his home.
He said that if Banner was not directly involved in drug supply in York, then he was at the very least a “trusted employee” of those higher up the chain.
Banner will serve half of the four-year jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.