A ‘VIOLENT thug’ has been jailed for four years and three months for ferociously attacking two young women after one of them raised a concern that a young child in his BMW was unrestrained on the front seat.

James Hill became enraged when one of his victims, herself a mother, suggested that the youngster aged about two should be safely strapped into a car seat, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The sickening violence was caught on camera and showed 42-year-old Hill throwing punches and kicks in Kirkgate, Silsden, shortly before 10pm on April 17 last year.

Hill, formerly of an address in Woodside, Bradford, now of no fixed abode, was sentenced today on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded.

He pleaded guilty to attempted Section 18 grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and criminal damage to a former partner’s money jar in May last year.

Prosecutor Laura McBride said the two female friends were walking in the street when they saw the BMW with the child in the front seat and a woman in the back of the vehicle.

When the concern was raised, Hill demanded: ‘What did you say?’ approached them and spat in their faces.

He then launched the attack helped by his partner who got out of the car to join in the assaults.

He repeatedly punched one woman in the face and aimed a kick at her head when she was lying in the road. Her friend was also punched and her mobile phone left smashed in the street when he drove away.

The victim of the attempted Section 18 GBH was taken to hospital with a cut face, black eye, bruising and grazing. Her friend also sustained a black eye and bruising.

Both had been mentally scarred by the violence and were now anxious and scared when out and about. One had suffered a panic attack when she went into a shop near to where she was attacked.

Hill, a heating engineer, had 21 previous convictions for 43 offences, including two of battery.

His barrister, Caroline Abraham, conceded that the offences were ‘deeply unpleasant’ from a man with ‘an unenviable criminal record.’ But Hill was doing very well on remand, training other inmates and acting as a mentor.

He was remorseful and working to address his issues surrounding anger.

Judge Ahmed Nadim labelled him ‘a violent thug,’ saying it was ‘a ferocious and sustained attack.’ One of the women had been courageous enough to be concerned that the young child was exposed to danger. He had taken her to the ground and aimed a kick at her head.

The child in the BMW was a witness to his ‘atrocious behaviour.’ The women had suffered black eyes, cuts and bruising and enduring damage to their confidence, Judge Nadim said.