Thug hit theft victim in face with a brick
A teenage thug who hurled a brick into the face of a man in a Black Country street has been locked up for five years.
Trouble flared after a scrambler motorcycle was stolen from the garden of the Bentley home of David Ayris on March 1.
The following morning he was contacted by a friend who had spotted the missing machine in Willenhall, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday. Mr Ayris went to the area and saw 19-year-old Jonathon Smith with the bike on Summer Street, said prosecutor Nicholas Smith.
Jonathon Smith handed the scrambler to Mr Ayris but then threw a brick in his face as the 45-year-old turned away fracturing a cheek bone, the court was told.
The victim needed a metal plate fitted in his face as a result of the injury and said in a victim impact statement: "I feel really nervous after this incident.
"I am registered disabled and this just made things worse."
Smith fled but was tracked down to an address in Kinver Avenue, Willenhall and arrested on March 23.
He was subsequently found guilty by a jury of handling the stolen scrambler and wounding Mr Ayris with intent.
The defendant from Lonsdale Road, Bilston had 18 precious convictions, three of which were for violence, the court heard.
But John Evans, defending, maintained: "This is not a young man with a serious propensity for causing harm to the public."
Judge Helen Hughes told Smith: "You deliberately threw a brick into the face of somebody at close range and Mr Ayris continues to be affected by the incident."
She added:?"You have showed little remorse and have an absolutely appalling criminal record."
She sent him to detention at a Young Offenders Institution.
