A SHIPSTON man forced his way into a flat before launching an unprovoked attack on someone he wrongly believed was seeing his ex-girlfriend.
Even after being thrown out after punching and kicking the other man, smashing his glasses, Aaron Ray broke back in to resume his attack as his victim was washing blood off his face.
But Ray, who had only pleaded guilty to wounding victim Matthew Partridge on the day of his trial at Warwick Crown Court, escaped being jailed.
Ray, of High Street, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 220 hours of unpaid work.
The 25 year-old was also made subject to an electronically-tagged curfew from 9pm to 6am for three months and was ordered to pay £500 compensation to Mr Partridge.
Prosecutor Balvinder Bhatti said the case involved an unprovoked attack in the early hours of February 22 at Sarah King’s home in Shipston.
She had been out with some friends including Kim Watson and Mr Partridge, and at the end of the evening they went back to her flat where they were all in the kitchen when her doorbell began to ring continuously.
When Miss King opened the door she was confronted by Ray, who had previously been in a relationship with Miss Watson but had ended it, and he said he wanted to ‘talk to Matt.’
She told him to leave and tried to shut the door, but he pushed it open with such force that she was knocked to the floor.
He rushed into the kitchen where he immediately launched an attack on Mr Partridge, before other people managed to pull him away and get him out of the flat.
But he returned moments later and broke the door open before attacking Mr Partridge as he had his head under the tap to wash the blood from his face and was unable to defend himself.
The police were called, and when they arrived Ray approached them and admitted assaulting his victim,
As a result of the assault, in which his glasses were smashed, causing a two-inch gash under his right eye and another cut to his nose, Mr Partridge has been left with a permanent scar.
Justin Jarmola, defending, said Ray, who works in a call centre and had never been in trouble with the law before, and had shown genuine remorse.
Sentencing Ray, Recorder Nicholas Cartwright told him: “It is only because you are of someone aged 25 of positive good character, without having put a foot wrong before, that I am just persuaded to suspend the sentence
