Detained, boy who took revenge after cinema noise complaint

(PA)

A teenager who poured bleach over a woman after she asked him to be quiet in a cinema has been detained for a year.

Jordan Horsley, 16, attacked Annette Warden as she enjoyed a meal with her family in a Frankie & Benny's restaurant in Leeds on 26 July. He was angry with her because she had fetched a member of staff to tell him and his friends to be quiet during a screening of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince at a nearby cinema.

Mrs Warden, 46, had to be treated in hospital after the attack but was not seriously injured.

The teenager was handed a 12-month detention and training order at Leeds Crown Court yesterday after he was found guilty of attempting to cause Mrs Warden grievous bodily harm with intent. He had denied trying to cause her serious injury and told the court he only wanted to "show up" the woman.

Sentencing Horsley, Judge Peter Collier said: "You decided to take your revenge on her and you went to a nearby garage, which had a shop. Initially, you wanted to find some eggs to throw at her but when you couldn't find any, you bought a bottle of Domestos bleach. You approached her from behind and squirted the bleach at her."

The court heard Mrs Warden had experienced trouble sleeping since the attack and had been prescribed medication for her nerves. In a victim impact statement, she told the court she was scared to go out with her children unaccompanied by her husband.

The court heard Horsley had a previous conviction for hitting someone over the head with half a brick, and had also been cautioned for assault. The teenager, whose mother died when he was young, had a violent relationship with his father and was living alone at the time of the offence.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Neil Thompson, of West Yorkshire Police, described Horsley's actions as "utterly vindictive".

He said: "The victim had made a perfectly reasonable request for him and the group he was with to be quiet during the film. She could never have expected that he would react in such a violent way. The fact he went off and bought the bleach before returning to throw it over her shows how malicious his thinking was that day."