Jealously led to assault, court hears (From Salisbury Journal)

Jealously led to assault, court hears

7:00am Thursday 6th December 2012 in News By Journal Reporter

A JEALOUS boyfriend was in court on Monday after attacking a man who’d been taunting him by text about his ex.

Salisbury Crown Court heard that Stuart Boulton, 27, hit his victim twice while they were in The Chapel nightclub on May 6, leaving him with bruising and a swollen lip.

He was thrown out of the nightclub but after receiving another text message from the victim, he went home and got a kitchen knife before making his way to the other man’s house in Moorbridge Crescent.

The victim and his father came to the door, and Boulton brandished a knife at them before assaulting them both, causing a wound to the father’s head.

Rufus Taylor, defending, told the court that although Boulton had the knife, he didn’t use it to inflict any of the injuries.

“He is simply appalled with his behaviour that night,” said Mr Taylor. “He realised pretty much immediately that he had made the worst mistake of his life. This is a young man who has accepted his mistake and he realises how close he is to an immediate custodial sentence but for whom such a sentence would do nothing realistically.”

But Judge Susan Evans said: “This was a serious string of offences.”

“One of the victims suffered injury to his head which bled profusely and would have been very distressing for his family,” she added.

Boulton, of Trinity Road admitted causing actual bodily harm, possession of a knife and two counts of assault.

He was handed a 30-week prison sentence suspended for two years, a one-year supervision order with 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay the victims £1,050 in compensation.