Vicious Scarborough thug Kieran Cassidy jailed for breaking security man's jaw and causing bleed on brain after knocking him unconscious in unprovoked attack

Kieran Cassidy, 35, from Scarborough, was causing a commotion at the Blue Dolphin Holiday Park in Filey which prompted two security guards, including the named victim, to step in and try to defuse the situation, York Crown Court heard.

When the victim told Cassidy to calm down, the bulky thug swore at him and boasted about owning four caravans on the site, before punching the security officer with such force he was knocked out cold, fell straight to the ground and had a fit, said prosecutor Anne Richardson.

“[The victim] had a seizure [and was] foaming at the mouth,” she added.

Cassidy, a burly figure, then punched the victim’s colleague in the face and he too fell to the ground but was able to get back up and go to the aid of his workmate, who was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary after suffering “multiple” facial fractures, a broken jaw and a bleed on the brain.

Both sides of his jaw were fractured and he also lost two teeth. He was taken into intensive care and had to be intubated due to loss of consciousness. He spent three days in hospital before being discharged.

Ms Richardson said the incident occurred at about 9.30pm on May 20 when the two security guards received a report of a man and a woman arguing in front of other holidaymakers, including children.

They turned up at the scene in their security vehicle and saw Cassidy arguing with two women outside the holiday caravans.

Cassidy, of Swan Hill Road, Scarborough, was shouting “aggressively” and when the security guards approached him he told them to leave in no uncertain terms, and started boasting about running his own business and owning several caravans at the holiday park.

Ms Richardson said the security guard stood between Cassidy and one of the women to try to defuse the situation but was then punched in the face after telling Cassidy to calm down.

Police arrived on the scene at about 10.30pm but Cassidy had already made off. He was later arrested and brought in for questioning on June 8.

He was charged with causing the security guard grievous bodily harm and assaulting his colleague, as well as two counts of threatening behaviour against others and a separate alleged assault on a woman at the holiday park.

He admitted GBH and common assault against the other security guard but denied the other matters, two of which have been remitted to the magistrates’ court and one on which the prosecution offered no evidence.

Cassidy, a former roofer, appeared for sentence on the substantive charges via video link today, Wednesday October 19, after being remanded in custody.

In a statement read out in court, the victim, who hasn’t been able to work since the attack, said he had suffered from constant headaches, memory lapses, sleeping problems, whiplash and pain in his ribs and kidney.

“I have emotional days when I do not want to speak to people following this brutal attack,” he added.

“I have flashbacks of waking up in hospital and not remembering how I came to be there. I’m reluctant to leave the house [and] I’m constantly stressed about money because I cannot work.

“I feel depressed as I feel people will look at me differently and I have questioned my ability to work in security, a job I’ve done for 20 years.”

He said he was attacked just for “trying to protect a vulnerable woman”.

He added: “This man appears to be extremely violent and, in my judgement, he is a danger to the public.”

Cassidy’s 20-year criminal record, namely 40 previous convictions for 58 offences, included violence against women, battery, threatening behaviour, theft, fraud, affray, drug-dealing, being drunk and disorderly, damaging property, assaulting police officers and harassment.

In August 2016, Cassidy was jailed for three-and-a-half years for a previous GBH offence. In that incident, he walked up to a woman in the street and struck her over the head with a metal bar or knuckleduster, causing bleeding and knocking her teeth out.

At the time of the holiday park incident, he was on a conditional discharge following his conviction for threatening behaviour in April this year.

Defence barrister Daniel Penman said Cassidy had serious health problems at the time of the incident at the Blue Dolphin camp which led to him drinking heavily.

He said Cassidy had told police he was “not feeling right in the head” and that “sometimes he’s horrible”.

Judge Sean Morris branded Cassidy’s behaviour a “disgraceful assault with terrible consequences for this poor [victim]” and slammed him for his “appalling record for thuggery and violence”.

He said the victim’s injuries were “particularly grave”.

Cassidy was handed a 20-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.