The intruders wanted to know where the occupant’s son was
Jordan Shields appeared at Hull Crown Court(Image: Humberside Police)
An “entirely innocent” man suffered a broken ankle – and ammonia was thrown into his face – after a gang of masked men suddenly “burst into” his upstairs flat and attacked him. Drug addict Jordan Shields was one of the menacing intruders who turned up at the premises, apparently intent on confronting the man’s son as part of a revenge mission, Hull Crown Court heard.
Shields, 37, of Jubilee Avenue, Bridlington, but recently in custody on remand, originally denied an offence of aggravated burglary on December 16, 2024 but he later pleaded guilty on the second day of a trial on August 5 last year. He also admitted breaching an 18-month suspended prison sentence imposed on November 1, 2023 for possessing drugs with intent to supply.
Holly Thompson, prosecuting, said that Shields and two other men were masked when they went to a flat above a hairdressers in Middle Street South, Driffield, after 6pm. A number of people were in the flat. The intruders wanted to know where the occupant’s son was.
The occupier was attacked and he suffered a broken ankle. A liquid, thought to be ammonia, was thrown at him from a bottle, causing stinging to his eye, but it was not claimed that Shields was responsible for these incidents.
The victim passed out. He was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary and needed an operation and a plaster cast for his broken ankle. A woman tried to run downstairs but she was confronted by one of the men, who was holding a 30cm-long machete.
He held it up to her and said: “What?” The police were alerted and Shields was identified from his DNA on a Lucozade bottle containing the ammonia-type liquid. He was circulated by police as wanted and he was later spotted, chased and arrested in Bridlington.
The victim later said: “It’s made me feel unsafe in my own home. I feel very overwhelmed and concerned about my injuries, especially my eye.” He needed a metal plate and bolts for his broken ankle. His eye was painful, swollen and more sensitive.
“I generally don’t feel safe in my own home,” he said. “I am still looking over my shoulder at all times. This plays on my mind. Overall, the incident has had a significant impact on my daily life and I just hope it can return to what it once was again.”
The victim suffered from poor sleep and anxiety. Shields had convictions for 29 previous offences between January 2006 and November 2023, including inflicting grievous bodily harm, robbery and possessing a firearm to commit an offence.
Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said: “There is little that can be said about any of the offending. The defendant involved himself in an offence in which he never ought to have been involved with in the first place.
“Two others have, to this date, evaded justice.” Shields played a lesser role than the other two men, who had not been arrested, but it was a joint enterprise. The acts of the others made the offence far worse than it ought to have been.
Father-of-three Shields was struggling with a “crippling drug addiction and a crippling drug debt” at the time. “He has been in and out of trouble with the courts,” said Mr Shipley.
Recorder Brian Whitehead said that the victim was “entirely innocent” and the three masked men were apparently looking for his son when they “burst into” the flat. “It was a very serious offence,” said Recorder Whitehead.
“Clearly, this was a carefully planned attack. The planning was done by your two accomplices and you were brought along, probably at the last minute, as a bit of muscle, by them.”
Shields was jailed for eight years and three months. The prison term included a consecutive one year after part of the suspended sentence was activated. He was given a 10-year restraining order.
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