Daryl Fender, of Seaton Burn, left the woman needing 11 stitches and also subjected a man to a racist road rage attack
Daryl Fender, jailed for wounding and racially aggravated assault
Daryl Fender, jailed for wounding and racially aggravated assault
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Celebrations at Newcastle United's league cup win turned to horror when a woman was left needing 11 stitches by a pub thug who smacked her in the face with a pool cue. Daryl Fender had already subjected a driver to a shocking racist road rage attack in a separate offence when he carried out a second unprovoked attack.
It was on March 16 this year that the woman was among those to have gathered at the Moor House pub, in Seaton Burn, North Tyneside, to watch Newcastle beating Liverpool to lift the cup. She was sitting in a booth near where Fender was playing pool some time after 7.30pm when she was assaulted out of the blue.
The woman was unaware what had happened but found she suddenly had blood on her hands and face. CCTV showed Fender had been talking to the woman and there was some laughter before things appeared to become animated and he suddenly struck her in the face with a pool cue in a quick upwards movement with the handle.
When he was confronted by one of her friends about what he had done, he replied: "I will hit you as well if you don't get out of my face". The victim was taken to hospital and found to have two lacerations to her lip and chin which needed 11 stitches.
She said in a victim impact statement: "I'm angry and embarrassed about what happened and baffled about why this person has done what they have done. I'm in so much pain and I'm worried he will try to find out where I live.
"I'm scared to leave the house in case I see him and I don't think I can ever go back to that pub either as a result of being assaulted. It's likely the injuries will leave me with scars which I will carry around for the rest of my life both physically and mentally."
Fender, 33, of Chapel Place, Seaton Burn, had carried out an earlier attack around 2pm on August 31 2023. A man pulled out of Sainsbury's, in Forest Hall, North Tyneside and found there was a queue of traffic on the main road in his path and pulled out at the head of the queue rather than blocking the road.
Adrian Strong, prosecuting, said: "The defendant took umbrage at that manoeuvre and the defendant pulled his car in front of his, got out of his car and approached his car and was immediately verbally abusive to him, shouting 'what do you think you are doing you f****** ****".
"He then punched him through his open window. The complainant got out of his car and the defendant punched him a further three or four times to the head, knocking him to the ground."
Fender then got back in his car and drove off, with the victim heading in the same direction, towards Station Road. Fender kept braking sharply in front of him and the victim then moved his car ahead of Fender's.
Mr Strong said: "The complainant was driving towards his home and the defendant followed him. He became aware there was a passenger in the defendant's car waving a baseball bat."
Fender then overtook the man and stopped his car in front of him and he and the passenger got out, the passenger still holding the bat. Fearing a further attack, he began to reverse away but ended up going down a cul-de-sac.
Fender ran after him, throwing a "sharp metal object" at his car. Mr Strong said: "The complainant briefly stopped the car and tried to move around the defendant, who was on foot. The defendant ran towards his car and threw himself on the car bonnet.
"This caused the windscreen to smash and caused him to swerve and hit a pole. The defendant then approached his open window and again he began to hit him through the open window and used the sharp metal object that he previously threw at the car, which caused cuts to his head and ear."
Fender took the keys from the ignition and the victim got out to try to retrieve them, with Fender continuing to throw punches as the man tried to defend himself.
The victim was left with multiple injuries, including lacerations to both ears, bruises to his forehead, a small wound to his forehead and a loose front tooth. In a victim impact statement, he said: "At the time I was scared for my safety as this was a totally unreasonable response to my minor mistake. The racist abuse I suffered still upsets me. I've been living and working in the UK since 2010 and this is the first instance of racist abuse I've suffered."
Fender, who has 23 previous convictions, including assaults and affray and had been released on prison on licence at the time of the pub offence, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault, wounding and possessing cannabis. He was jailed for a total of 21 months by Miss Recorder Davies.
Nick Lane, defending, said of the attack on the woman: "The pub was busy, everyone was having a good time. Mr Fender was engaging with customers in a friendly way and at one point he can be seen to dance a little jig.
"He was engaging with the victim and her friend over several minutes and they were smiling and chatting and at one point he had his arm around the shoulder of the victim. What follows is incredibly short-lived."
Mr Lane added that in the road rage attack, Fender was also injured, suffering two fractures to his spine and three broken ribs and was left bleeding. He added that he is a family man and said: "He is not someone who holds entrenched racist views. He has extended family members from a different ethnic background who he has always got on well with and enjoyed the company of.
"He is particularly disappointed he let himself down in the disgraceful way he did." The court heard Fender has had mental health difficulties.
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