Carer jailed after walking stick used in attack
A man who hit his victim with a walking stick following a long-running neighbour dispute has been locked up for 18 months and handed a restraining order.
Colin Mason, of Walsall, attacked Richard Herbert on a canal towpath in Bloxwich and also chased after him, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Mr Herbert suffered a puncture wound above his left eye, bruising on his arm and pain to his left shoulder, the court was told.
Ms Lisa Hancox, prosecuting, said the 46-year-old used the walking stick as a weapon, striking Mr Herbert once and chasing him. She also made an application for a restraining order.
Mason, of Darwin Road, Leamore, was found guilty by a jury of assault causing actual bodily harm, dating back to April 2 last year, following a trial last month. He was also convicted of breaching his community order.
Ms Wendy Miller, mitigating, told the court: "The defendant does not accept that he is guilty of an offence. He takes issue on every level. His case is that he has had a very long neighbour dispute with the victim in this case."
She said he was also a carer for his parents but realised a custodial sentence was inevitable.
Sentencing Mason, Judge Michael Dudley told him that he had a bad record for offences of violence that went back some years. He added: "It is clear to me that you have a very quick temper. On the occasion when you encountered Mr Herbert on the canal towpath it was an unprovoked attack by you on him."
He said he had also previously attacked another member of Mr Herbert's family.
Mason was handed a 15-month prison sentence for assault causing actual bodily harm and a three-month consecutive jail term for breaching the community order.
Judge Dudley told him he will have to serve at least half of the 18-month term in custody. He also made a restraining order forbidding Mason to have any contact with the victim until further notice.
