Jail for Christmas Day gate crasher who hit reveller with paving slab

David Turnbull arrived uninvited at the address in Walker Street, Tipton, on December 25 last year but knew that Alan Bradnick, who went to the same school as him, was inside, a judge heard.

The 28-year-old was allowed into the house after explaining that he wanted to wish him a happy Christmas, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Turnbull drank a small amount of alcohol while circulating among members of Mr Bradnick's family and guests, some of whom became increasingly concerned because he had a carving fork in his pocket, said Mr Andrew Tucker, prosecuting, who concluded: "He overstayed his welcome."

The defendant left when asked to go after spending less than an hour at the property.

He could have moved onto his sister's home which was nearby but remained outside the address.

He lay in wait until Mr Bradnick came out and then launched a brutal attack, felling him with a blow to the face from a broken paving slab. The victim was left bleeding heavily as Turnbull fled.

He was arrested on December 28 and told police: "I will go to prison and do the same again," the court heard.

Mr Bradnick received two fractures to the eye socket from the single blow which left him struggling to cope with flashbacks and other issues which have triggered a depressive illness, it was said.

He revealed in a statement read to the court that he had been a Tipton resident all his life but the attack had forced him to move to another part of the country.

Mr Lewis Perry, defending welder and father-of-four Turnbull, said: "He is sorry for what happened. Things got out of hand and he went way too far. He has a lack of control and needs to calm down."

The defendant, from Aston Street, Tipton, who had previous convictions involving 35 offences, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed by Judge James Burbidge QC who told him: "When asked to leave you did so and could have gone to your sister's but you chose to stay outside."