Man hurt in Euro 2024 violence outside Haxby Sports Bar

Jesse Dear, now 19, smashed a terracotta pot on the ground in the outside area of Haxby Sports Bar during a brawl, said Jessica Noble, prosecuting.

Then he threw shards of the pots, hitting the Good Samaritan on the hand, injuring it so badly, he feared he could lose it.

The man, who works as a postman, had to undergo two hours of surgery to repair his hand, have eight internal stitches and 22 external stitches and doctors have told him at best he will only regain 70 per cent of the use of his fingers.

The postman was trying to prevent a group of girls being hit during the brawl which erupted when the club was full of people watching England play Slovenia in the European Championships in 2024, said Ms Noble.

In a personal statement the postman said of Dear: “He is immature, violent and a danger to society. He has not learnt from his mistakes. He is clearly an angry and disturbed man.”

He said he had had to give up his postman job, which he had loved.

Dear has previous convictions for affray and assault and had been in court four days before the incident when he was given a youth rehabilitation order. He received another youth rehabilitation order a few months later.

York Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said to Dear of the postman: “His observations about you in 2024 were spot on.”

He told Dear: “I would dearly like to lock you up. What you did to that man had a profound impact upon him. The system has let him down.”

Because Dear was 17 when he injured the postman, the judge had to sentence him in a way that a youth court would have sentenced him. “My hands are tied,” the judge said.

He gave him an 18-month community order with 180 hours’ unpaid work and 15 days’ rehabilitative activities.

He warned Dear that if he breached the order by not doing the unpaid work or rehabilitative activities, he would lock him up for 16 months.

Dear, of Constantine Avenue, Tang Hall, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and affray.

The police and licensing authority insisted on changes at the bar immediately after the brawl. The bar imposed restrictions on who could enter for a time and did not show a later England match.

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The court heard police identified Dear from CCTV of the incident in November 2024 but didn’t send a file to the CPS to decide if he should be prosecuted until February 2025 and he wasn’t charged until the end of 2025.

Oliver Norman, for Dear, said he had not reoffended since the brawl which happened at a time when he was violent.

“Fortunately, he has been able to move on from that time in his life,” she said.  He was working with rehabilitative organisations to reform himself.

He had left school aged 12 without qualifications and a structure to his life. In 2026, he had a job as a tree surgeon, which was enabling him to live a law-abiding life.