‘If you carry on attacking people, with your strength and build, you will end up, if not killing someone, causing them very serious injury’
A violent thug viciously attacked another man during a bad-tempered fight in a bar and left him with a fractured eye socket after repeatedly “pummelling him” in the head and face. Damian Driver was seen “going to town” on the victim during the “ferocious” beating and aimed 15 to 18 blows at him.
He had a long history of serious violence and he could easily end up “killing someone” one day because of his sudden explosive losses of temper. Driver, 32, of Hull, but currently already serving a four-year prison sentence, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to the man on January 13 last year.
Giles Grant, prosecuting at Hull Crown Court said that Driver was in a Bridlington bar and he was at first getting on well with another man but a fight broke out. A female member of staff saw Driver “going to town” on the man and “pummelling him” in the head and face.
Driver lashed out with 15 to 18 blows and there was blood on the man’s face and clothes. Driver left the scene with an associate. The victim suffered a fractured eye socket but he had no memory of the attack.
There was blood behind his left eye and a metal plate was inserted. He had symptoms of severe concussion. The man later said that he could not remember what happened but he was concerned about the lasting effects of his injuries and whether he could have been killed.
Driver had convictions for 42 previous offences, including being jailed for four years in June last year. Those offences included assaulting his sister causing actual bodily harm, as well as breaching a restraining order and causing criminal damage to his ex-girlfriend’s BMW car.
Hannah Turner, mitigating, said that father-of-three Driver had a bad record for violence. “There is no shying away from that,” said Miss Turner. Driver would, in the past, drink and act aggressively.
“He knows that it is not a pattern that he can continue with,” said Miss Turner. “He knows that he can’t continue with this. In his own words, he is getting far too old for this.
“He is no stranger to HMP Hull. They have seen a real difference in his behaviour this time round. This is not the path he wants to continue with. He is remorseful for his actions.
“He accepts that his behaviour is shocking and he said that he is shocked and appalled by his actions. Obviously, his actions went too far in the circumstances.”
Judge John Thackray KC told Driver: “If you carry on attacking people, with your strength and build, you will end up, if not killing someone, causing them very serious injury. It was a fairly ferocious, sustained attack.
“This is a serious matter. It could have been much more serious.” Driver was jailed for 21 months, to run consecutive to the four years that he is already serving.
At the hearing in June last year for the four-year jailing, the court was told that Driver targeted his terrified ex-girlfriend and his sister in two nasty violent attacks. The second aggressive beating came shortly after he had been released from prison for the first.
Driver left his ex-girlfriend fearing that he would kill her one day. His sister was left shocked and horrified after he broke her wrist in one attack before later repeatedly punching her in another violent outburst.
The sister never imagined “in a million years” that her own brother would attack her “not just once but twice”, the court heard that day. Driver had been in an on-off relationship with his ex-girlfriend for about 10 years at the time.
He had been jailed for three years in July 2020 for offences of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, causing actual bodily harm, and inflicting grievous bodily harm on his sister.