A man left blind when he was hit in the face by a pint glass in a Bristol pub is still waiting for the compensation a judge said he should get, almost seven years after the attack.

Tom Morley was left 80 per cent blind – he can just about see shapes and hasn’t been able to work – from the incident, which happened in the pub garden of the Wetherspoons in Kingswood back in July 2018.

It took almost three years for the man who went berserk and started throwing pint glasses around the pub garden to be sentenced for unlawful wounding, and he was spared a prison sentence back in 2021 because the judge heard the violent attacker, Jack Hynam, had a partner and had a new baby in the time since the incident.

At the sentencing in April 2021, Judge Michael Longman said he hoped Tom Morley would be compensated by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, but in almost four years since then, Tom has not yet received a penny.

Now, Tom and his partner Emily have begun a campaign to try to speed up the process, and have called on his local MP Damien Egan to help. Tom has not yet been informed if he even is eligible to receive compensation, despite his life being radically damaged by the impact of the glass attack. He said a series of blunders and delays by the police, the Crown Prosecution and the courts mean he has been left in limbo, waiting for a decision that will mean he can carry on with the rest of his life.

Tom remembered the day his life changed forever very clearly. He was 22, worked as a mechanic and loved the freedom from riding his 125 motorbike. That evening he was sitting with a group of friends in the garden of the Wetherspoons in July 2018.

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He said Jack Hynam had joined their group but he didn’t know him. “I’d had one pint at the time. I’d just got my second beer in and the guy just went mental, and started throwing stuff. He was throwing pint glasses, jugs everything,” Tom said.

“I don’t know if he was in a panic, and he was throwing them to get away from people or whatever, even though no one was going for him. No one understands what happened. For me it was the wrong place, wrong time,” he added.

One of the glasses hit Tom straight in the face and shattered in his eyes. An ambulance was called but didn’t arrive until the following morning, long after someone had called Tom’s mum to take him to Southmead Hospital. A day later he was having surgery, and giving a statement to the police. Hynam was arrested the following day.

It wasn’t until April 2021 – almost three years later – when the case, delayed by Covid and a series of issues with what Hynam would be charged with, that he was eventually brought to court, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful wounding, and given 21 months in prison.

Tom Morley, a mechanic from Kingswood, who was hit in the face with a pint glass in 2018 and left 80 per cent blind.
Tom Morley, a mechanic from Kingswood, who was hit in the face with a pint glass in 2018 and left 80 per cent blind. (Image: Tom Morley)

But because in the time between the incident and the day in court, Hynam had a new baby, his defence successfully argued that a prison sentence would affect his newborn child. Instead, that 21 months in prison was suspended, and he was given 250 hours community service and ordered to undergo rehabilitation.

Judge Michael Longman told him in court: “It was a very serious offence. The life of a young man was changed by your behaviour that night. I hope Tom Morley will be compensated via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. He is undeserving of what happened, blameless and deserving of compensation which I hope he gets.”

Tom said his victim impact statement, which he provided to the court, was written in the early days after the incident, at a time when he was still hopeful he would regain his sight. “At the time it wasn’t that bad. I’d been off work, and when they took the statement, I just thought ‘well once it heals I’ll be able to go back to work everyone’s happy’,” he said. “It’s almost like you want to go back and say can we do this sentence again? But obviously you can’t do that.”

The glass severely damaged one eye, shattering his cornea and affecting the optical nerves. He is now confirmed as being 80 per cent blind in both eyes, permanently, and this has had a devastating impact on his life.

Tom said he was initially advised by the liaison officer appointed by Avon and Somerset police that he should wait to apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Agency (CICA) after the court case was completed and the perpetrator sentenced.

“That wasn’t right,” said Tom. “What you’re meant to do is claim it straight away, and then the claim will stay open until you go to court,” he added.

Because he didn’t apply until after the sentencing in 2021, and the incident had happened in 2018, his claim to CICA was at first turned down, because Tom should have applied within two years of the injury, not after the court case was completed. Even since he appealed, he has repeatedly been asked for medical evidence, more documents, payslips from his time when he was working, updated documents in case his circumstances have changed.

“I think I’ve probably spent about £100 on recorded deliveries, because at the start I sent stuff in and they would say they didn’t receive it,” Tom said. “Most of the time, I’m on the phone to them and get a recorded message saying they are busy. It’s got to the point now where I just want to know if I’m entitled to it, I’m so done with the whole thing.”

Three years ago, Emily came into Tom’s life and they have been a couple ever since. She said she was astonished at how he’d been treated.

Tom Morley, a mechanic from Kingswood, who was hit in the face with a pint glass in 2018 and left 80 per cent blind.
Tom Morley, a mechanic from Kingswood, who was hit in the face with a pint glass in 2018 and left 80 per cent blind. (Image: Tom Morley)

“I’ve known him since he’s been 80 per cent blind, and I’ve seen what he’s gone through. I’ve been dealing with the compensation stuff with him, along with his mother, and from someone who’s just come into this fairly new, I’m actually astounded with how this process is,” she said.

“I mean, his life has been irrevocably changed, and he hasn’t received anything. They keep on bouncing back. I’m getting frustrated with it. He’s close to giving up, and they keep on asking for more evidence, more evidence. We send off the evidence as soon as we get a letter through from them, it takes them months and months and months, three to six months onwards, to reply to us and say, ‘oh, actually, we need more evidence’,” she added.

Tom said he wasn’t looking for a big pay out – just to clear the debts he ran up in the weeks and months after the attack. “I don’t expect anything from anyone for what happened. It’s no one else’s fault apart from the kid who did it,” Tom said.

“I need it to pay debt from after what happened. I only borrowed from friends because I was told by a police officer that I would get compensation. At the time, I didn’t sign on straight away because I was hoping it would heal quickly and I could go back to work,” he said. “I borrowed from them just to get through. I still owe them that money and it’s been years,” he added.

Tom said he would like to go back to work, but has struggled with the DWP and their support. A couple of years ago he was called in and told they might have a job for him. He got there to be told they had lined him up as a delivery driver. “I asked if it was as a delivery driver’s mate, and would there be someone with me to show me where the letterboxes were,” he said. “The funny thing about it is I didn’t even drive before I went blind, I only had a motorbike.”

He was sent to a jobs clinic for disabled people, in the centre of Bristol too. “They asked me if I was good with animals, and I said yes, so they suggested I could train to be a dog groomer. I can’t even shave my own face properly,” he said. “I have to get Emily to do it for me.”

Emily said Tom struggles to get out and about, and often feels unsafe and anxious. She’s angered by the injustice of the situation. “The man who did this was not sent to prison because he had a new baby,” she said. “What about Tom? If or when he ever has a baby himself, he’ll never be able to see it.”

Tom said he wanted to finally know one way or the other about the compensation, so he can carry on with his future. “It’s just a real effort to try to chase them, fill in forms, keep it going. I just want to know as it’s been dragging on so long. I would like to work again, I would like to find something I could do,” said Tom. “I don’t want to sit here and be a victim. I’m not a fan of sympathy, I don’t do sympathy really. For me this is about justice,” he added.

Bristol Live asked the Ministry of Justice about Tom’s case. A spokesperson for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Agency said Tom’s case was a complex one which had been refused at first, because his claim was outside the time limit. It is currently awaiting a decision, she said. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We sympathise deeply with all victims of violent crime and know compensation can aid them in their recovery. The majority of cases are decided within 12 months but more complex cases can take longer to assess.”

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