A bullying drug dealer and his loyal sidekick have been jailed for a total of almost 20 years for beating a vulnerable addict unconscious in a bid to pervert the course of justice.

Darren Swan needed life-saving surgery to remove his shattered spleen after the brutal attack by Lee Lock and Ian Stirzaker, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

It came shortly after Lock hurled Mr Swan into a freezing pond. Mr Swan also accused him of putting a firework down his trousers.

Lock, 27, was imprisoned for 12 years and Stirzaker, 32, for seven and a half years.

Both were convicted by a jury of causing Mr Swan, 35, grievous bodily harm with intent at the house the two shared at Spinkwell Close, Undercliffe, Bradford, on November 17 last year.

Lock was also sentenced for possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

Mr Swan, who had drug and alcohol addiction problems, was beaten senseless in the kitchen at Spinkwell Close after failing to take the rap when Lock was caught with drugs.

He suffered multiple injuries and spent three weeks in Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Judge Christopher Batty said that Mr Sawn was a decent and loving man until his brain was affected by his addictions.

Lock offered him £500 to take the blame for his drug dealing but Mr Swan “did not get the script right” when he went to the police and they both ended up facing trial late last year. Desperate to avoid imprisonment, Lock decided to prevent Mr Swan getting to court.

Stirzaker lured him to their home on a snowy evening and Lock threw him into a freezing pond.

Judge Batty said it was “an act of pure gratuitous degradation. An act of bullying”.

Stirzaker took pity on Mr Swan and gave him dry clothes but then joined Lock and another man in attacking him.

The kitchen lights were turned off and Mr Swan was kicked unconscious.

Lock phoned for an ambulance but tried to blame another man for the attack.

Tahir Khan QC, barrister for the Crown, said Mr Swan had suffered stress, sleeplessness and anxiety since the assault. He felt he was always looking over his shoulder.

He was left with scars and would be on medication for the foreseeable future.

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