Cousins in baseball attack on man high on ecstasy
A man high on ecstasy was beaten with a baseball bat after diving through a bathroom window when violence flared at a party, a judge heard.
Paul Bedworth was cornered by cousins Nathan Newton, aged 31, and Martin O'Keefe, 29, in the back garden of the flat in Walsall Road, Darlaston, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Father-of-three O'Keefe, who lived at the address, was seen by neighbours hitting the victim with the baseball bat, while Newton repeatedly punched the man, said Mr Walter Bealby prosecuting.
Mr Bedworth was found lying unconscious nearby by police on August 13. He was taken to hospital where he was put into an induced coma for three days and spent three weeks under treatment.
Mr Bedworth suffered swelling and damage to the brain together with cuts that required 30 stitches, explained Mr Bealby.
Mr Stephen Cadwaladr, defending Newton, said: "There was a party at which Mr Bedworth, who had taken illegal drugs, became more and more boisterous. The last act of this was for him to hit Newton in the face with a frying pan. Newton was still ringing from the blow with the frying pan and did not think of the consequences before starting to punch him."
Mr Gurdeep Garcha, representing O'Keefe, told the court: "He is ashamed and embarrassed by what he has done."
O'Keefe, now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for eight years. Newton, of Oxhill Road, Handsworth, was locked up for two-and-a-half years after admitting causing grievous bodily harm.
