A YORK man was stabbed, beaten and left for dead in an alleged revenge attack for a homicide 16 years ago, a court heard.

Matthew Carney, 45, suffered severe brain damage in the attack, which happened after he was lured to a remote location in Burnholme Drive, Heworth, on August 12 last year, Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday.

Mr Carney was acquitted in 2003 of being involved in the death of Michael Brolly, 34, of Walmgate, York, in 2001.

Paul Mitchell, prosecuting, said that death “was the heart of the grudge that forms the background to this case”.

He was opening the prosecution against four York people charged in connection with the attack on Mr Carney - three of whom face attempted murder charges.

He said Mr Carney was stabbed with a kitchen knife, “and may have been stabbed again had the knife not fortuitously broken”.

He was punched, kicked and stamped on, and received “eight separate, forceful blows to the head”, before he was left for dead, he told the court.

Mr Mitchell said: “When the attack took place its ferocity went far beyond what may have been the scope of the original plan.

“After the attack he was left for dead in the remote location where he had been attacked. Only by an extremely unlikely twist of good fortune he was in fact discovered a relatively short time after the attack. Had he not been found until the morning, which was far more likely, the opinion of doctors was he would have died from his injuries.”

Mr Mitchell told the jury after Mr Carney was acquitted over Mr Brolly’s death, Paul Michael Rishworth, Mr Brolly’s nephew, now aged 31, had “refused to accept this verdict”, and had threatened Mr Carney on at least two occasions following his acquittal.

Mr Carney had fled York in fear for his safety following these incidents, and lived in Selby for several years, before returning to York early last year.

When he returned to York, he found work with a building company and befriended Kieran Harris, 22, unaware that he was Rishworth’s cousin.

Mr Carney had arranged to go for a drink with Harris on the Friday evening he was attacked, and was met in the pub by Scott Lewis Hurst, 29, and Keely Ann Hurst, 23, - friends of Rishworth, who was also present.

Mr Mitchell said over the course of an evening Mr Carney was apparently convinced any “bad blood between him and the others was forgotten”, and he was taken off in a car driven by Keely Hurst to the remote area of Heworth where he was attacked.

Rishworth, of no fixed address, and the Hursts, both of James Street Caravan Site, York, all deny attempted murder.

The Hursts also deny an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, a charge Rishworth has admitted.

All three, together with Harris, of Bell Farm Avenue, off Huntington Road, York, deny conspiracy to commit GBH.

Mr Mitchell said the Hursts and Rishworth deliberately avoided using their mobile phones for a period between about 10.15pm and 11.50pm, to avoid their locations being recorded, and said “this pattern of phone use, and non-use strongly suggests that all three knew what was going to happen in advance”.

The prosecution said that while the area the attack took place in is not densely populated, two neighbours reported hearing noises on the night of the attack, including “a girl’s startled screech”, an engine ticking over, and “a voice saying, not shouting, something to the effect of ‘just leave it’, or ‘just leave him’.”

Mr Mitchell said in 2003, a court heard Rishworth had approached Mr Carney in the street carrying a weapon, and had been calmed down by his mother, while in 2004 he had used a hammer to smash the windows of Mr Carney’s car while he was inside it with his daughter.

The trial continues.