A 58-YEAR-OLD man suffered life-changing injuries when his skull was fractured in two places by the thief who had stolen his phone, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Steven Ratcliffe struck his head on the road when he was punched by Nathan Snowden in Myrtle Place, Bingley.

Snowden, 24, of Agnes Street, Beechcliffe, Keighley, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Ratcliffe at 11.30pm on June 22 last year, and to theft of his phone.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw told the court yesterday that both men were drinking in the Wetherspoons-owned Myrtle Grove in Main Street with their separate groups of friends when Snowden picked up Mr Ratcliffe's phone and walked out with it.

He was making off in a white Mini car when Mr Ratcliffe stood in front of the vehicle in Myrtle Grove to block his path and a confrontation developed.

Snowden, a passenger in the vehicle, felled Mr Ratcliffe with his clenched fist, fracturing his skull in two places and causing a bleed on the brain.

He dragged him on to the pavement by his ankles and put him in the recovery position before leaving the scene.

When he learned how seriously injured Mr Ratcliffe was, Snowden handed himself into the police.

He told officers: "He hit me first. I never meant to hurt him. I am not a violent person."

He said he intended to sell the phone at Cash Converters but threw it away instead.

In his victim personal statement, Mr Ratcliffe, who lives in Bingley, said he was now deaf in one ear.

He had suffered severe headaches and memory loss and he struggled to walk normally. He was an medication for back pain and needed physiotherapy.

He was anxious and uneasy when going out and had to be taken home early when he re-visited the pub with friends.

In mitigation, Stephen Wood, barrister for Snowden, said he had no previous convictions for violence.

"He is genuinely remorseful and overwhelmed by the enormity of what happened," Mr Wood said.

Snowden was in work and had cut his alcohol consumption considerably.

Judge Colin Burn sentenced Snowden to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a three month curfew order and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay Mr Ratcliffe £1,000 compensation.

Judge Burn accepted that Mr Ratcliffe may have "thrown a blow" at Snowden because there was no other way to stop him getting away with his phone.

Mr Ratcliffe had suffered "horrendous" life-changing injuries and the compensation order was just a "token" and not intended to reflect the long-term damage he sustained that night.

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