A court heard Michael and Hayley Friel were travelling home when the door to a lavatory cubicle was opened while she was in there. Her furious father questioned other passengers to try to find who had opened it after she was left “exposed and embarrassed”.
Michael Friel, 58, who was jailed on Thursday for two years, then became “intimidating and threatening”, Chester Crown Court was told.
Passenger James Clarke said he was to blame –even though he did not open the door – to try to calm the father and deflect attention from the person responsible, a woman sitting near the lavatory.
More than 18 months after the attack, he cannot walk 100 yards unaided and remembers nothing of the attack because of his “life-changing injuries”.
Michael Friel pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and Hayley Friel, who was convicted of the same charge, received a 28-month jail sentence.
