Thugs jailed after healthcare worker driven to suicide by bottle attack which left him ‘looking like a monster’
Jeff Dylan became 'depressed and anxious, unable to come to terms with what had happened to him'
DRUNKEN yobs who drove a healthcare worker to suicide have been jailed - after they smashed a brandy bottle over his head and left him "looking like a monster".
Jeff Dylan, 32, was left suffering flashbacks, headaches and with permanent scars after being set upon by a gang of three men.
They used jagged pieces of glass as a weapon to cut into his face while his girlfriend Catrin Picand-Jones listened helplessly on the phone.
Nine months later he killed himself while on holiday with his girlfriend in Budapest.
On Monday, his attackers were finally jailed for their horrific crime in May 2015 near Castle Park in Bristol City Centre.
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Daryl Burke, 25, who hit him twice with a bottle, was jailed for six years after he admitted wounding with intent to cause GBH.
The bottle fell to the floor and broke and Ryan Kent-Jones, 23, picked it up and stabbed him with the jagged edges.
He was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of wounding with intent to cause GBH at trial.
Kent-Jones' girlfriend, Georgia Wilson, 19, who kicked him, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of wounding.
The thugs set upon Jeff as he walked through a park alone at night after attending a music festival with pals.
His girlfriend told the court the attack left him "changed" and "introverted" and he "referred to himself as a monster".
Judge William Hart said Jeff "became depressed and anxious, unable to come to terms with what had happened to him";.
He said: "You, Daryl Burke, were carrying the brandy bottle which became the weapon used against him.
"You struck him twice over the head as you got back to your feet.
"The bottle fell to the ground and broke. It broke in a way that the next separated from the body of the bottle and it became a short and very savage tool.
"You, Kent-Jones, picked up that jagged end of the bottle. It had by then become a savage weapon. What you did then was wholly inexcusable."
Jeff's mother and his partner of 14 years said Jeff's suicide was a direct result of the attack.
Girlfriend Catrin Picand-Jones told the court she had planned to get married to Jeff and have his children, and said their future had been stolen.
She said the attack "destroyed" her partner, adding: "He was a shadow of his former self. Not being able to cope with the flashbacks is what killed him.
"His personality changed and he became completely introverted. He didn't want people to come to the house and referred to himself as a monster.
"In the months that followed, he struggled to get his confidence back on track. His confidence never returned.
The scarring to his face devastated him. He referred himself as a monster.
Catrin Picand-Jones
"He was the first to offer to help anyone he could. Everybody loved him. The attack destroyed him."
Jeff's mother, Teresa Prescott, 53, added that her son asked her, "Do you know what it is like to be held down and attacked?"
She said: "The scarring to his face devastated him. He used Bio Oil, sunglasses and hats.
"On February 19 he took his own life. He was struggling getting his head around having to go to court and relive the events of that night."
Psychiatric care assistant Mr Dylan finished work in Bridgwater and came to Bristol after a friend had a spare ticket for Love Saves The Day music festival in May 2015.
After the festival he and friends went to Stokes Croft until he walked to a mate's house alone past Castle Park at around 4am.
In a statement to police, Mr Dylan said he was surrounded by a group of "boys and girls" and the court heard he told him to "f**k off" when he felt surrounded.
He rugby tackled Burke from Brislington, Bristol, intending to escape, and the yob used a brandy bottle to hit him twice on the head as he got to his feet.
The judge said yesterday: "It was a heavy cognac bottle and you had all been drinking from it. They were both heavy blows.
"The bottle fell to the ground and broke. It broke in a way that the next separated from the body of the bottle and it became a short and very savage tool."
Kent-Jones of Redcliffe, Bristol, picked up the bottle - described as a "savage weapon" and hit Jeff in the face, the court heard.
During the trial witness Carly Gibbs told the court and police she heard Kent-Jones shouting to his friends "I stabbed him five times in the face. I'm going to prison for this."
The entire shocking incident was heard by his girlfriend Ms Picand-Jones who was on the phone from Malaysia, on a trip Jeff had bought for her as a birthday gift.
I stabbed him five times in the face. I'm going to prison for this.
Ryan Kent-Jones
He committed suicide in Budapest, Hungary, on February 19, and a fundraising campaign was launched to help bring his body home as he had travelled without any insurance.
The judge said the impact of the attack was a "contributing factor" in his suicide but said he couldn't conclude it led exclusively to his death.
Kent-Jones and Wilson both denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and wounding.
A jury of seven men and five women unanimously convicted Kent-Jones of wounding with intent and Wilson of wounding, in less than two hours.
Burke pleaded guilty to wounding with intent at an earlier hearing. He was given an additional 18 months for a separate robbery.
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