Man jailed for three years after 'vicious' attack in Scarborough

Jamie Duffield, 36, punched the man in the face “repeatedly”, kicked him and even threw a bike at him during the horrifying scenes in Scarborough.

He had acted “in revenge” after the named victim told police he had seen Duffield chopping down a tree with an axe, York Crown Court heard.

Enraged, Duffield, who had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, told officers who were quizzing him about the allegation that he was going to “smash (the victim’s) … head in”.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said Duffield made good on his threat the following day, May 28, when, on police bail and prison licence, he and another named man followed the victim from the Grand Hotel on the Scarborough seafront to the Spa Bridge.

Duffield caught up with him in a nearby park and began punching him repeatedly in the face and kicking him.

“A witness said Duffield was kicking the (victim) and throwing a bike at him within a sheltered seating area in the park,” added Ms Morrison.

“The attack ended when Duffield noticed that witnesses appeared to be calling the police.”

The victim suffered “multiple facial fractures” including a broken nose, as well as a swollen, black eye and a “deep”, 3cm cut beneath his eye, as well as bruising to his face.

Duffield, of no fixed address, was originally charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm and a separate charge of witness intimidation, but the prosecution ultimately dropped these charges after he admitted a single count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He appeared for sentence via video link after being recalled to prison following his arrest.

The prosecution outlined Duffield’s shocking criminal record which comprised 63 previous offences including serious violence, assaulting a police officer and threatening behaviour.

In May 2021, he was jailed for nearly six years for breaking a man’s jaw and nose with a metal bat.

That incident, in December 2020, occurred in Tennyson Avenue, Bridlington, where Duffield, who had been drinking heavily and had also taken cocaine, began smashing windows at the 61-year-old victim’s home.

He then approached the front door, where he attacked the victim with the bat, causing him “significant” injuries to his head and face including bruising to the brain.

Police said the “vicious and extremely violent attack…could have easily resulted in the death of (the victim)” who, due to his severe injuries, struggled to walk, had “ongoing issues” with his speech and suffered “significant” memory loss.

Following his arrest for the attack in Scarborough six months ago, Duffield was recalled to prison to serve the remainder of that jail sentence for causing grievous bodily harm to the man in Bridlington.

Defence barrister Nick Peacock said Duffield was due to be released from that sentence in late 2026.

However, at today’s hearing judge Geoffrey Marson KC said the attack in Scarborough merited a lengthy jail sentence of its own, consecutive to the one that Duffield was already serving.

He said Duffield had a “terrible” record for violence and the offence was aggravated by the fact that he was on prison licence at the time following his initial release from jail for the Bridlington attack.

He said it was “perfectly clear” that the attack in Scarborough was born of “revenge” and that “you were looking for your victim in order to attack and injure him”.

Mr Marson added: “(The victim) received very serious facial injuries, multiple fractures to the nose and other facial bones. These injuries were nasty indeed.”

Duffield was jailed for three years and two months.

The judge recorded not-guilty verdicts on the original GBH and witness-intimidation charges.

The prosecution dropped all charges against the named man who was with Duffield at the time of the incident.