Neighbour 'could have been killed' in bat attack
Northumbria PoliceA man who burst into a neighbour's home and beat him unconscious with a metal bat has been jailed for three years.
Mark Wallace planned and executed the attack after a row about the victim's son breaking one of the attacker's windows, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The victim was left with cuts across his head and an eye swollen shut, while the judge told Wallace he "could have killed" his neighbour.
Wallace, from Sunderland, admitted intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The victim intervened in an argument on 1 October 2023 between his son and Wallace, who lived nearby, prosecutor Helen Towers said.
He thought things had calmed down and gave Wallace a cigarette, but Wallace said "this is not going to get left", the court heard.
Towers told the court that the following day the victim again encountered Wallace who said: "Me and my boys are coming for you and your boy."
Later that day, Wallace "burst" into the man's home and repeatedly hit him with a metal bat.
Wallace kicked and stamped on the man's head as the victim lay curled up on the ground, the court heard, then smashed his possessions after the victim lost consciousness.
The victim's son said he believed his father had been killed, Towers told the court.
Recorder Anthony Hawks said Wallace had a history of losing his temper when things did not go his way.
"You could have killed him," Hawks told Wallace.
"Often people in these circumstances end up with a dead body on the ground, so you'd better think about that next time you lose your temper."