A man has been sentenced for an assault in a Blackpool pub carpark which left his victim with catastrophic head injuries.
Luke Bagshaw punched a man in the face outside the Clarence pub on Preston New Road, in July 2024.
It was the night England played Spain in the Euro 2024 final, although a dispute which had developed between a group of people during which the assault happened, was unrelated to the football match.
His punch knocked the man unconscious, and he fell to the floor.
The victim, a man aged in his late 50s, suffered traumatic bleeding on the brain, swelling and inflammation, and two skull fractures.
He was in hospital for many months and the assault has left him with lifelong consequences, with him unable to live independently.
In a Victim Personal Statement, the man’s daughter said: “His independence has been stolen by one careless act.
"He’ll never drive again, never work again, never live fully independently, and probably never love again.
"This is not a life any of us expected, or wanted, him to have.”
She continued: “I’m fortunate to have a good support system around me, but nothing will bring back my daddy, who took me to the boating lake every Saturday, and whom I went to the cinema with to watch the latest action film.
“The artist, the cook, the sports fan, is now a shell of the person he once was.”
Bagshaw, 35, of Preston New Road, Blackpool, was found guilty by a jury of Section 20 causing grievous bodily harm following a trial at Preston Crown Court in July.
Returning to the same court, he was sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment suspended for three years, ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work in the community, and made subject of a four-month electronically tagged curfew.
Det Sgt Joe Hadfield of Blackpool CID, said: “This case shows the devastating consequences which can result from a punch being thrown.
“A man has been left with lifelong injuries due to Luke Bagshaw’s reckless actions.”
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