Care worker locked up after vicious attack

A care worker who bit a man in the face during a vicious attack outside the care home where he worked has been jailed for four years.

Ian Lawson, 43, calmly put down a stack of medical records before pouncing on Gerard Critchley outside the supported housing site for vulnerable adults.

Manchester Crown Court heard that after biting the victim’s face Lawson, of Bradfield Road, Urmston, stuck his thumb into the wound to make it bigger.

The violence was sparked by a row Lawson had earlier that day with the victim’s wife Mary Critchley, who was a colleague at the home at Fielden Avenue, Chorlton.

Mr Critchley, who is also a care support worker, was head butted by Lawson after confronting him.

He was then subjected to a ‘protracted assault’ in which he was kicked, punched, bitten and had his head repeatedly slammed on the pavement before horrified onlookers.

Lawson sought to blame Mr Critchley, saying the attack was in ‘self-defence’ at a trial last month.

But a jury found him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and he was locked up for four years.

Alistair Reid, defending, said ‘remorseful’ Lawson had been employed as a local authority carer for 18 years, ‘working with vulnerable adults who display challenging behaviour’.

He said that the father-of-two, who has no previous convictions, had been attacked a number of times at work and never been ticked off about his conduct.

Mr Reid also suggested that his client had made comments about taking his own life if he was sent to prison.

However, Mr Recorder Alldis said jail was the only ‘realistic’ sentence.

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Alldis, said: “It’s quite clear you have never done anything like this before, but when you chose to enter the pool of criminality you went straight in at the deep end. This was a vicious, repeated and thoroughly unjustified attack.”

The court heard that moments before the attack, on June 12 last year, Lawson drove off to see his line manager following the row with Mrs Critchley.

Mrs Critchley called her husband to come and pick her up when she finished her shift at noon.

When Lawson returned he was confronted by Mr Critchley.

His reaction to what the recorder described as a ‘mild rebuke’ was to put down his papers, grab the victim by the chest and then stun him with a headbutt.

When the victim came to he found himself lying on the ground with Lawson raining blows down on him.

Lawson took a number of breaks before returning to the fray, the court heard.

At one point he sucked the victim’s cheek into his mouth before biting it, and then sunk his teeth into the man’s shoulder blade.

When Mr Critchley staggered to his feet, Mr Lawson punched him in the face and kicked him in the ribs before sticking his thumb into the bite wound and ripping the skin.

Mr Recorder Alldis told Lawson: “Mr Critchley will bear the scars for the rest of his life. Not content with the injuries you caused you taunted Mr Critchley, you told him he deserved everything he’d got, that you had been fighting all your life and that he had made it easy for you.”