Mansfield man split his neighbour's cheek open with golf club in row over loud music
A Mansfield man who split his neighbour's cheek open with a golf club in a dispute over loud music because he was being “disrespected” has been sentenced at the crown court.
Ashley Bates first brandished a hammer at the man outside flats on Bamford Drive, on January 25, 2022, but he was ignored, Nottingham Crown Court was told.
Feeling threatened, Bates then swung a golf club at him, fracturing his victim’s jaw so it continues to click and leaving him with a scar.
A jury cleared Bates, now aged 41, of inflicting grievous bodily harm deliberately following a two-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court in November.
Sentencing him for GBH on Friday, Judge Tina Dempster told him the lack of intention made a significant difference to the sentence he would receive.
“There was some sort of ill-feeling between the two of you, but is remains unclear what it was about,” she told him.
She said his victim was taking items into his flat and playing music which Bates felt was “disrespectful” because his father had recently died.
The difficulties he had provided some context for a spate of offending he committed in 2022, the judge added.
The court heard two previous convictions for violence aggravated the current offence.
“Having had the opportunity to reflect on your behaviour, I accept there is an element of remorse and you have thought about what you did that day,” Judge Dempster told him.
“It was committed at a time of particular personal crisis which affected your ability to make rational decisions. There has been no offending since and there is a realistic prospect of your rehabilitation.
“You demonstrate willingness to work with the probation service to address what is quite frankly skewed thinking about your perception of threat and being disrespected.”
Bates, now of Newtons Lane, Cossall, received a 15 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 15 rehabilitation days.
"It seems to me the public will be much better served if you address the reasons for your offending," the judge told him.
"Hitting someone around the head with a golf club could have resulted in a much more serious injury. It was a nasty injury but not a grave injury.”