A MAN and a woman have been jailed for almost killing a neighbour when their alcohol-fuelled Christmas Day celebrations descended into violence, Hull Crown Court heard.
Victim Paul Newman was left fighting for his life after being attacked by Colin Horton and Karen Norburn on the east Hull estate where they lived.
When Newman was taken to hospital, his level of consciousness was assessed under the Glasgow Coma Scale, which has a possible maximum total score of 15 for eye movement, response to verbal commands, and limb movement.
He scored one, two and one respectively – just one more in total than the minimum required for life.
A later test gave him a score of seven and he spent the following week in a coma.
But it was Mr Newman, who was 48 at the time, who started the violence.
The three, who all lived in separate flats in a tower block in Tedworth Road, Bilton Grange, spent Christmas Day drinking and were said to be getting along "like a house on fire".
A paramedic had already been called to Mr Newman after he collapsed between 4pm and 7pm and was found sitting on the doorstep of the Flower Pot pub, but there was no sign of any injury and he was seen "staggering away".
Between 9.30pm and 10pm, there was an "altercation" between Mr Newman and 35-year-old Norburn in flat 65, Horton's home, although he was not there at the time.
Mr Newman hit Norburn with a weapon, either a piece of wood or a chair leg, causing a black eye.
Horton, 39, returned and "escorted" Mr Newman outside, Hull Crown Court heard, before punching him to the ground.
Witness Nathan Jones saw what happened next and described Horton walking away from a "white thing" that was on a grassed area.
He said: "I thought it was a dog at first, but I noticed it was moving, so I thought it might have been a quilt.
"I saw the male walk towards the flat door, then he turned and started to walk towards the white thing on the grass and kick the white thing.
"It was a really heavy, powerful kick. I noticed it was a person. I saw the head wobble."
Mr Jones said he thought he would be "very surprised if the person would survive this kick", and then heard the person breathing heavily.
Norburn came out of the flat and kicked Mr Newman in the head, falling over as she did so.
She continued trying to kick him in the head while she was on the ground, but witnesses gave conflicting accounts about whether any of those kicks connected.
It was not clear what injuries Mr Newman suffered in his earlier collapse.
But when he arrived a hospital he had broken ribs, swelling on the inside of his scalp, fluid on the lung, a collapsed lung, a broken cheekbone, "swelling deformity to the mid-face", and fragmented bone from his nose.
When Horton and Norburn were arrested and interviewed, Horton admitted punching Mr Newman but made no reference to the kicks.
Norburn said she simply "tapped" Mr Newman while he was on the floor.
Both later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
Horton, now of Albert Avenue, west Hull, had previous convictions for domestic violence, breaching a non-molestation order, robbery and conspiracy to rob.
John Thackray, for Horton, said the best mitigation was his guilty plea, but he had managed to stay out of trouble while working in the hotel industry and wanted to return to that life.
Norburn, now of Newland Avenue, west Hull, had no previous convictions and was said by her barrister, Richard Thompson, to have had a difficult childhood and to have problems with alcohol and drugs.
She also had a "lack of intellect" and was "educationally deficient", Mr Thompson said.
Judge Graham Robinson said Mr Newman had suffered "extremely serious life-threatening injuries".
He said he was sentencing the pair on the basis of joint enterprise and jailed Horton for 18 months and Norburn for 13 months.
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