www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6984272.eceThe Times January 12, 2010
Bleach attack teenager Jordan Horsley given 12-month sentence
Andrew Norfolk
A boy who squirted bleach over a woman’s head after she complained about the noise he was making at a cinema was sentenced to 12 months in detention yesterday.
Annette Warden fell victim to the revenge attack as she ate in a restaurant with her family after the cinema screening of a Harry Potter film in Leeds.
Mrs Warden, 46, had gone to the cinema with her husband and their two sons. Sitting near them were a group of five rowdy teenagers who were talking loudly and using their mobile phones.
She initially asked them to be quiet. When that polite request failed, Mrs Warden fetched a member of staff, who threatened to throw the group out of the cinema.
Her actions angered one of the teenagers, 16-year-old Jordan Horsley, who waited until the end of the showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last July.
As Mrs Warden and her family walked into a restaurant near the cinema, the teenagers drove past in a car and Horsley leant out, shouting: “You f****** slag!”.
The car stopped at a petrol station, where Horsley bought a bottle of Domestos bleach before demanding to be driven back to the Frankie & Benny’s restaurant.
He walked to the table where the family were eating and squirted the liquid on to Mrs Warden’s head.
She described her terror in a statement read to Leeds Crown Court during Horsley’s trial last month.
“It kept coming and fell all down the right side of my face and into my eyes. I didn’t know what it was at first. Then I smelt bleach and my eyes started stinging.”
Mrs Warden rushed, sobbing, to a nearby toilet as her husband ran after Horsley, who escaped in the waiting car.
She was later taken to hospital. Her hair was bleached white and grey and her clothing was damaged but after being treated with injection freezing and saline she escaped permanent injury.
The court was told that Mrs Warden had experienced difficulty in sleeping since the attack, has been prescribed medication for her nerves and was too scared to leave her home without her husband.
Horsley, who admitted in court that he had wanted to “show up” Mrs Warden but denied intending to injure her, was convicted of attempted grievous bodily harm.
The bearded, 6ft 3in teenager, who has a previous conviction for hitting someone over the head with half a brick, wore a baggy black T-shirt as he was sentenced yesterday to a 12-month detention and training order.
The court heard that Horsley’s mother died when he was young. He had a violent relationship with his father and was living alone when the attack happened.
Passing sentence, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier, QC, said he hoped that some of Horsley’s issues with his family and his emotions would be dealt with during his time in custody.