A YOUNG woman who intervened in a street attack may have saved the life of a man who was beaten and stamped on before being left unconscious in a busy road.

Taxi controller Aimee Yule ran to his aid in Darlington and placed the heavily bleeding man in the recovery position to stop him choking.

She then bravely stood up to his two drunken attackers as they returned several times to inflict further injuries on their helpless victim.

Yesterday a judge praised the 22-year-old’s public spirited actions and said her intervention saved Jason Waters from more serious injuries – or worse.

Some passers-by paused to watch while motorists swerved round Simon Taylor and Ryan Piggford as they carried out their “repeated, sustained and brutal attack” on Mr Waters in Darlington town centre.

Judge Howard Crowson jailed Taylor, 31, and Piggford, 28, for four years and eight months each yesterday.

Last night, Miss Yule, who works at 1AB Taxis, told The Northern Echo: “I ran into the middle of the road and put him into the recovery position, but I didn’t move his head as he was bleeding from it quite heavily.

“When I approached, they (Taylor and Piggford) moved away, but they kept coming back to kick him.

“One of them ran towards me and lifted his hand but I stood still and told him to leave. Luckily, he never hit me.

“While I was there trying to sort him out, they just kept coming back to boot him in the head. I was just sitting with him trying to stop them. I said, ‘That’s enough, he’s had enough, please just leave it.’.

“I couldn’t believe more people had not stopped, cars had to swerve round them and some had stopped at the other side of the road to watch, but nobody came to help.

“I turned his head so that he wouldn’t choke on the blood in his mouth.

“I was shaking afterwards and in shock for days. I wouldn’t normally get involved with something like that, but I just thought, ‘That’s somebody’s son being stamped on in the middle of that road’.”

Sentencing Taylor and Piggford, who both admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, Judge Crowson said Miss Yule’s intervention saved Mr Waters, 22, from a more severe beating and asked for a letter to be sent commending her public-spirited actions.

“A great number of people passed by in their cars and she was the one person who thought it appropriate to step in,” he added.

“There were two of you acting together in a very persistent act against a man who could not defend himself ... it was a concerted and violent, appalling attack on Mr Waters.

“She stepped into the street to prevent it going any further and was not put off by the kicking that was going on. It saved him from much worse.”

He told the pair that they could have faced longer sentences had the injuries – a broken nose and fractures to Mr Waters’ foot and hand – been worse.

He said the injuries were “fairly modest” given the severity of the attack, but added: “That’s more down to good fortune.”

CCTV footage of the attack in Northgate, at 7pm on July 27, showed Mr Waters falling onto a parked car after being punched by Taylor and then collapsing on the road after another blow.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court: “Taylor then straddles the victim, sitting on his chest, and rains repeated blows, relentlessly targeting his head.

“Piggford then approaches and stamps on the victim’s head and face approximately six times. He loses consciousness and his body goes limp.

“After the stamping, Taylor pushes Piggford off, and then he returned to his attack, punching him, again repeatedly, in the face. It is then that the brave female bystander pulls Taylor away.”

Piggford then returned to kick Mr Waters twice more in the head, the court heard.

Piggford, of Greenbank Road, Darlington, told police he was “mortal drunk” after downing ten litres of strong cider, and said he was disgusted when he saw the footage.

Shaun Dryden, mitigating, said it highlighted Piggford’s losing battle with alcohol addiction.

Taylor, of Peabody Street, Darlington, said he had drank four cans of strong lager and a litre of cider, and claimed the incident was sparked by a row between Piggford and Mr Waters.

He told police in an interview: “What I did was well out of order .”

Andrew Petterson, mitigating, said Taylor had lost work, a relationship and contact with his young son as a result of his alcohol problems.

Speaking afterwards, Detective Constable Neil Stannard also praised Miss Yule for her intervention.

“He could easily have died,” he added. “He is lucky to be alive or certainly without any kind of lasting damage.”