JUST IN: Former Leed Rhinos rugby player who was glassed and left blind has been labelled as “dangerous” and is now in jail.

A former rugby player for the Leeds Rhinos was left blinded by an unprovoked glassing attack.

A ‘dangerous’ man was given a ten-year prison sentence for blinding a former rugby player on a night out by smashing a glass in his face. On Boxing Day of the previous year, Gareth Dean, 37, viciously attacked Matthew Syron, 33, in Revolución de Cuba in Leeds.

Mr. Syron, who relocated to Australia in 2012, told Leeds Crown Court he was in the bar with pals and that there was “no sign of trouble.” Mr. Syron was standing facing the bar just after midnight when he sensed someone walk by. Then Dean leaned over and broke a glass by smashing it in the middle of his face. After the shards entered his face and eyeballs, Mr. Syron—a native of Leeds—became instantly blinded.

“Mr. Syron fell immediately to the floor realizing that his vision had gone totally black,” stated prosecutor Michael Smith. He had felt agony in the past, but not quite like that. This was a whole other level of severity. They barely interacted in the pub, did not know one another, and did not argue. It was a completely unintentional assault.”

Dean was then observed departing the area and carrying on with his evening by drinking at another establishment. According to Mr. Syron’s brother, the father of two had “blood pouring from both eyes” when he arrived at the hospital.

That evening, Mr. Syron, a former rugby player for the Leeds Rhinos, required surgery to remove the glass, and he has since had several procedures. Though it’s unclear if his vision will get any better at this point, he can see light in his right eye and almost make out objects with his left.

On January 2, Dean turned himself in at Elland Road Police Station, where he acknowledged intentionally inflicting GBH and was placed under remand. He acknowledged that he had consumed fifteen pints of alcohol and had been drinking since 11 a.m. on the day of the attack. Upon his detention, he tested positive for cocaine.

Leeds resident Dean has been convicted of 10 crimes in the past. In 2010, he served four and a half years in prison for his involvement in a group that used a pool cue to beat a guy at a pub until the man passed out. After confessing to GBH without purpose in 2017 for hitting a guy twice and breaking his cheek bone, Dean was sentenced to 28 months in jail once more.

Michael Levy offered a mitigating statement, saying, “This is an utterly horrible and horrible situation from every angle. In a matter of seconds, a number of lives have been tragically and irrevocably altered. It is hard to have any sympathy for my client because he is obviously the cause of his own bad luck. It was fueled, as is tragically often the case, by narcotics and drink.”

He said that Dean “expressed some genuine remorse” and that his early guilty plea was his best form of mitigation. In addition, Mr. Levy stated that Dean was “capable of acting decently and responsibly,” but he gave no justification for Dean’s attack on Mr. Syron.

Judge Richard Mansell called Dean’s actions “no remorse” and called the incident a “cowardly and sickening attack.” “I have no hesitation to find him dangerous,” he declared.

Judge Mansell dismissed the argument that Dean “quite positioned himself to strike” Mr. Syron with a “highly-dangerous weapon,” refuting the idea that the attack was not planned.

Dean received a prison term of ten years and eight months along with an additional five years of license. Soon after the tragedy, Mr. Syron’s Go Fund Me page was set up; you can make donations there. He’s advocated for a legal amendment that would forbid glass bottles in bars after 9 p.m. To add your signature, click this link.