Four men locked up after Thornhill Lees teen was slashed in face

The 16-year-old was the victim of an attack as a result of heightened racial tensions in the area, Leeds Crown Court heard today.

The court was told how two of the defendants, Josh Foster and Jordan Williams, had been beaten up by an Asian group on Halloween last year.

On November 3 they, along with Melvin Watts and Dale Oakley, set upon two Asian teenagers in Lees Hall Road as an act of revenge.

Williams, 18, hit one of the victims with a stick and Watts, 19, slashed one of them in the face with a craft knife he had brought from home.

Watts told police that he had only taken the knife for self-defence and Abdul Iqbal, mitigating, told the court that Watts had thought the two victims were the ones that had attacked his friends.

But David Bradshaw, prosecuting, said neither of the victims had been connected to the assault on Foster and Williams, both 18.

Mr Iqbal said there had been heightened racial tensions in Thornhill Lees after Jack Carter, a relative of Watts, had been killed by an Asian man in Victoria Road over the summer.

Watts, of Mountain Road, Thornhill, was sentenced to five years in a young offenders’ institute for wounding with intent and possessing and offensive weapon.

Foster, of Grange Crescent, Tadcaster, was sentenced to 15 months in a young offenders’ institute for wounding and racially aggravated assault.

Oakley, 21, of Thorn Avenue, Thornhill, was sent to prison for 18 months for the same offences.

Williams, 18, of Partridge Crescent, Thornhill, was sent to a young offenders’ institute for 18 months for wounding, racially aggravated assault and possessing an offensive weapon.

For the full story see this Friday’s Reporter.