Gang attack youth walks free

July 21, 2009

| Submit Comments | Comments (102) | Previous | Next

Mr Barry

A FATHER who lost an eye in a vicious assault has described his anger after one of his attackers was spared jail.

Dave Barry, 45, was on his way home from a night out when he was hit in the face with a bottle and badly beaten up by a gang of youths in Failsworth.

A number of youths took part in the unprovoked attack but only one of them, Zachary Applegate, who was 15 at the time, could be linked to it by evidence.

Normally a person who blinded another would be charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which is one of the most serious violent offences.

But, because it could not be proven that Applegate, now 18, swung the bottle, he was charged with the lesser offence of assault causing actual bodily harm.

After pleading guilty at an earlier hearing, the yob was sentenced to a 12-month community punishment order and 150 hours unpaid work.

After having his right eye removed, Mr Barry, of Failsworth, lost his job as a machine operator in the plastics industry.

Badly traumatised by his ordeal, he no longer goes out at night for fear of running into his attacker or any of his associates.

The father-of-one's anger has been intensified because he was forced to give evidence twice after Applegate's original trial - at which he pleaded not guilty - collapsed after a juror's blunder last September.

Mr Barry said: "I feel I have been let down by the system. There's no such thing as justice anymore. My attacker has had a free ride in between the first trial and pleading guilty, and at the end of it all he's got off with a 12-month slap on the wrist.

"It is shockingly laughable and I'm sure I'm not the first person who it has happened to.

"The justice system wants looking at because the judge was very good, the police were very good, but they were frustrated by the options available to them.

"Time after time the system is letting victims down terribly. The only people that seem to be benefiting are the criminals.

"Twenty or thirty years ago my attacker would have been given a custodial sentence."

Mr Barry was walking down Oldham Road shortly before 10.15pm on April 20, 2007, when he was hit in the face with the bottle.

As he lay helpless on the ground, Applegate and his gang swarmed around him.

Describing the moment he was hit, he said: "It felt like a hammer blow. I fell to the floor clutching my eye because it felt like it was going to fall out.

"As I lay on the ground I was kicked from both sides. I had stamp marks, bruises and cuts all over my body.

"After three operations I was told I would lose my eye because it couldn't be saved and could affect the other eye.

"Since then I have good days and bad days. The really upsetting thing is that you can't do the things you used to do before.

"You try and do your best but sometimes your best isn't good enough.

"It's soul destroying and it knocks your confidence. I feel vulnerable. I'm not the same person I was before and I probably never will be."

Det Sgt Jason Byrne said: "David was an innocent man that was subjected to a horrendous and terrifying assault.

"All he wanted to do was go out and enjoy a few drinks. He has been left permanently blind in one eye and had to have his eye removed as a result.

"His injuries were appalling but they could have been even worse, such was the ferocity of the attack. David's life will never be the same again."

| Submit Comments | Comments (102) | Previous | Next

Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

old timer steve, manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:17)

This is a disgrace. This yob clearly knows who else was involved and clearly has not given this info. For that alone he should get no leniency.
The sentence is a joke.

Bigkecks (21/07/2009 at 17:21)

GMP - You are all mugs

No wonder you get laughed at

No wonder we need to 'sort out things ourselves' if this is the punishment handed out

Acid, Chadderton (21/07/2009 at 17:25)

Let's hope Mr. Barry has a lot of very nice friends who can mete out their own brand of justice on the scum and his ilk, because the justice(?) system has done him no favours.

Guten Tag, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:28)

Justice, UK style. 12 month Community Punishment Order and 150 hours unpaid work. That will teach 'em!

Keith McRae's Ginger Nuts, Stockport (21/07/2009 at 17:29)

What a damning indictment of our so called justice system.

J smith (21/07/2009 at 17:35)

Why don't the MEN print a loverly picture of Applegate, and then when we see him on the street we can all let our opinions be "known" to him.

MPs gravy train, UK (21/07/2009 at 17:36)

I hope somebody is generous enough to give this man some money so that he can take out a private prosecution for damages.

No wonder the youth of today feel they can do what they want. Shocking.

Max Speed, Cheshire (21/07/2009 at 17:37)

Well Applegate you scum bag, I think you had better keep looking over your shoulder as you swagger around,
I suspect you are now a marked Man. Sorry I mean a marked Rat

What goes round comes round, yours is coming Pal !!

Big Brother, North West (21/07/2009 at 17:39)

An innocent man loses his eye, which will affect how he lives his life and more importantly affect the way he interactes with his child. The person that was part responsible for causing the injuries gets 150 hours unpaid work and a session every two weeks to attend a community meeting. I have to say that it should be an eye for an eye. Not 150 quid for an eye.
Bigkecks I dont agree that it is GMP fault. It is the magistrates/judges that are accountable for the sentence and unless I am mistaken we have all the facts. Innocent man walking and is assaulted without provocation and loses an eye and his sight for life. Is that really all that can be given to the person responsible. You get more for stealing.

Pie in the Sky, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:44)

Why did this take 3 years to come to justice? I've got a feeling he will walk into a brickwall, one day, very soon.
Are the GMP going to put up poster's of this lad, all over GM, like they did with the gang of thugs from Salford?

KJ, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:44)

Bigkecks

The sentencing has NOTHINH to do with GMP - blame the CPS! Absolutely disgraceful!

Guten Tag, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:46)

Bigkecks - GMP don't dish out sentences, judges do. GMP privately distrust courts not to hand out the proper sentence, which seems that way with this case.

Mr Barry should sue Applegate for loss of earnings, etc. Hit him were it hurts most, and legally!

ebble, manchester (21/07/2009 at 17:49)

The judge should be retrained or sacked. He should remember that he is a public employee and therefore he should do what the public wants of him, and they certainly don't want him handing out lenient sentences like this for violent crime.

real gmpcop (21/07/2009 at 17:56)

bigkecks - We are not all mugs! GMP would like nothing better for this person to go to prison for the maximum amount of time possible. i'm sure the officers who dealt with this incident are dismayed with the "sentance" given to this yob. All the police do is gather the evidence and get them to court, whatever happens then is out of our hands.

Dr Armadillo (21/07/2009 at 18:01)

I'm not normally one of the "hang 'em and flog 'em" brigade who normally comment on here, but this pushes even my liberal attitudes to breaking point, complete and utter joke, a jail sentence was the only correct verdict in this case, to punish, deter but most importantly protect us from scum like this.

Lord De Las Moscas, Piggly Wiggly Farm (21/07/2009 at 18:03)

I am ashamed and I am sickened. We would all get behind any Charles Bronson Death Wish avenger who taught these feral scumbags what retribution is all about. I hope someone has a word with young Zachary and informs him of where he has gone wrong in no uncertain terms.

Keith Howieson (21/07/2009 at 18:03)

This is symtomatic of a country that is terminally diseased.What planet do the legal profession live on?

Your havin a laugh, Tameside (21/07/2009 at 18:03)

Bigkecks 17:21 Fo your info.... once charged GMP have no say in the sentencing, this is down to the courts my little ill informed friend.

nanny ogg (21/07/2009 at 18:04)

am absolutly speechless, how much damage do you have to inflict before you're actually punished.
what a joke,
wish you all the best MR Barry

BDZ, UK (21/07/2009 at 18:07)

Bigkecks - how is this the fault of GMP? They've done their bit by catching the offender and bringing him to court, it's once again the courts that have let us down.

If magistrates and judges had their homes burgled and got punched in the face more often crooks wouldn't get such light sentences.

Cookie Monster (21/07/2009 at 18:09)

What a disgraceful sentence... I would have been interested in hearing the judge's rationale for giving such a lenient sentence. The CPS and the police have the power to appeal against lenient sentences so hopefully they will in this case. I hope that the police - and for that matter the MEN - will be keeping a close eye on him.

"Bigkecks" - how exactly does this case make GMP mugs? The last time I checked (although maybe things have changed in the past couple of hours) it was the judiciary and not the police that hand down sentences. They clearly did something right as the offender was caught, charged and successfully prosecuted. But, hey, it gives you another chance to have a pop at the cops so why not!

I work in the criminal justice system and I can tell you, it ain't the police that we should be worrying about!

And as for taking the law into your own hands, the law may be an ass, but it's preferable to the alternative. The idea of people like Bigkecks and Acid dishing out summary justice is one that would have me running for the hills. It's lucky I'm not a paediatrican or I could end up being lynched for abusing kids (look it up Bigkecks!).

GaryNevillefan, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 18:10)

Absolutely disgraceful I will go and mug an old pensioner now why not nothing will happen to me?
I am sick of this country and the system and the "SCUM" that walk the streets,talk about being America here??
This just shows why one day their will be a revolution and vigilante groups will be in force.I have mates who work for GMP and they would love to see this happen because they themselves are disgusted in the pathetic system of the law.

miss independent, hollinwood (21/07/2009 at 18:14)

I know this person and I am appalled that he is capable of such a crime. I would never have thought he would or could do such a horrible crime and although he was only 15 at the time, that just worries me more that school age children are able to wander the streets drinking and hanging around in gangs thinking that it is acceptable to beat the living daylights out of someone. I think that he should have received a custodial sentence as it is telling others that this kind of violence is ok. Mr Barry's life will never be the same again. He is now disabled and his work, social and family life are forever affected. I hope Zach realises the severity of his crime and that he is lucky to receive such a light sentence. Unfortunately, Mr Barry is not so lucky. I am from Failsworth and I heard about this at the time and was sickened. Im more sickened to think that this person is someone I know and would have trusted around my own daughter. But I wouldnt now.

Dukinfield Blue, Manchester (21/07/2009 at 18:22)

MEN - Whats Applegates address?, I know several people who would like to discuss what happened with him and ensure he wont be able to do this sort of thing again. Why wasnt applegate given a custodial sentence for not revealing who else was in the gang that attacked Mr Barry?.
Vigilante time I think is now in order - if the courts wont sort out the appropriate punishment, maybe its time members of the public did the job for them.

john davis, Broughton, Salford (21/07/2009 at 18:27)

To all those do gooders that keep bearating me, come on whats your answer for this one,

()

Report

News