Man glassed in Leeds bar fears being left blind for life
Video report by Michael Billington
A man who was visiting family in the UK for Christmas fears he will be left blind for life after being attacked with a glass on a night out.
Matthew Syron, who is originally from Leeds but now lives in Australia, was back in the city when his life was "turned upside down" after he was attacked in Revolución de Cuba bar.
He was walking back from the toilet alone when a man "glassed me and ran off".
Mr Syron said: "An arm came over my shoulder and shoved a bottle through my face and followed me to the ground. I could hear everything and I was conscious, but it's just black."
The 32-year-old has already had surgery on his eyes and has regained some sight in his right eye.
But he does not know if further surgery will improve his sight.
Mr Syron, who lives in Australia with his fiancée and two children, was visiting family in his home city when the attack happened on Boxing Day.
Sharon Syron, Matthew's mum, said: "It was like a horror movie, his eyes were bleeding and he was just screaming in pain. I think they got him in within five hours. If they hadn’t have done, he’d had lost both eyes. To witness that as a mother, just horrific, horrific.”
Gareth Dean, 37, admitted grievous bodily harm with intent when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, 1 February. He will be sentenced on 4 March.
Now Mr Syron is calling for change by petitioning to have similar rules brought into UK law as the ones in Australia around safety in bars and clubs.
“They stop serving glass and bottles so there’s no weapons inside, and they also have a lock out law of 12pm where they don’t let anyone in after that certain time" Mr Syron said.
"Everyone who’s in the building, they know who’s in there. I’d love to see it here, and I think thousands and thousands of people would as well.”
Keone Rawiri, Matthew's fiancée, said: “It is crazy that you guys don’t have some systems in place.
"Even if it’s just identifying the hot spots where these attacks keep regularly happening and putting the acts in in the certain destinations. That is what we would like to see happen.”
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association “There’s lots trials out there in terms of glasses that shatter so they’re not shards, bottles that do the same, so there’s a lot of work that goes into this to ensure that we minimise any risks, but there’s still lots of work to do.”
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