Pub landlord will spend rest of life in care home after punter's 'catastrophic' punch

A man has been jailed after he left a pub landlord with half his skull missing following a single brutal punch.

Ronald Eyre, 68, suffered a "catastrophic brain injury" after he was hit by Juraj Argay, 37, who had been in the Hammer and Wedge Club Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, bragging about being a bare-knuckle fighter and challenged others to an arm wrestle.

Following the incident on January 19, Mr Eyre, a grandfather to three daughters and six grandchildren, is still unable to move, talk, or even be aware of his surroundings. He will likely spend the rest of his life in a nursing home. His family said they had lost him to a “death of silence”.

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A judge at Nottingham Crown Court sentenced Argay to three-and-a-half years. Judge Michael Auty KC described what happened as a result of Argay’s actions as a “tragedy”.

Argay had been out drinking with his partner at the pub, which had been run by Mr Eyre and his partner Claire Blacknell for almost 25 years. The court was told the defendant was at first chatting to other customers and offering to buy rounds, however became increasingly drunk and boisterous, NottinghamshireLive reports.

Argay bragged about his strength and claimed he was a bare-knuckle fighter that would take anyone one for money. He left the pub, but subsequently returned after an argument with his partner.

After missing last orders, Argay was asked to leave. He was ushered into the car park after initially refusing. After seeming to calm down, the defendant pushed past another man and punched Mr Eyre in the face, causing him to fall backwards and smash his head on the concrete.

Argay returned to his partner’s address, packed his belongings, changed his appearance, and failed to turn up for work the next day, Matthew Hayes, prosecuting, said. But he later drove to Mansfield Police Station and handed himself in, claiming he was acting in self-defence.

Mr Eyre’s skull was fractured in the attack, causing a bleed on his brain that required part of his skull to be surgically removed. “He still requires the support of a tracheostomy tube and two people for managing his personal care. He’s not aware of his surroundings and has a prolonged disorder of consciousness," said Mr Hayes, who added it is “extremely unlikely” that he will regain a level of consciousness to be able to live independently.

Ms Blacknell, who has been in a relationship with Mr Eyre for 29 years, said: “Ron was fit, active and strong-minded. Now he has to be fed, washed and dressed and someone has to brush his teeth. He had worked all his life to enjoy a good retirement."

The “loved and popular” Wedge and Hammer pub was sadly closed. “I didn’t just lose my partner that night, I lost our business, our livelihood,"Ms Blacknell

Ms Blacknell also said her family had to “watch the strong, loving father they know lay in a hospital bed unable to speak or move”. She added: “This wasn’t a moment of violence. This was the beginning of a lifetime of loss for all of us.”

One of their daughters, Teresa Eyre, added: “My dad was a strong hardworking man. Now he’s laid in a hospital bed unable to do anything for himself and he will be in a care home for the rest of his life.

“Half his skull is missing due to the craniectomy. I find myself wondering some days whether he knows we are here. I’ve cried everyday since the 19th January this year. This will always be my dad’s life and our lives are changed forever."

No mitigation for Argay was offered by Dominic Shelly, defending. He said Argay has "genuine remorse" for his crime. “Every morning that’s all he wakes up thinking about,” he said. “Each evening he prays for Mr Eyre."

Judge Auty said: “You went home. You should have stayed home and slept it off. Had you done so you wouldn’t be in the dock and this family wouldn’t be suffering the wretched purgatory they are," he said.

“For absolutely no reason whatsoever and with no justification you delivered a single but mighty blow to Mr Eyre’s face. He was a strong man but the future for that strong man is about as bleak as it gets. Whether he will speak again, only time will tell, but I can be sure as I can be that he will never be restored to what he was. And that is a tragedy.

“You might have thought you were delivering a punch and he might have a black eye and that’s it. But what you did hasn’t just affected his life, but altered, and some might say destroyed, the lives of so many others.”

Argay has three previous convictions, including receiving a suspended sentence for causing actual bodily harm in 2015, which was partially triggered when he committed a common assault the following year.