A dad, who moved house after savagely beating his vulnerable former next-door neighbour so badly that he is now disfigured, has been put behind bars.
Matthew Bennellick attacked Andrew Tucker while he was working on his garden on the morning of July 23, 2021.
Plymouth Crown Court heard how there was a "long-standing dispute" between the two sets of neighbours - who had lived next door to each other for 12 years - over a "building control application" made a number of years previous to the attack.
The court heard how Mr Tucker was in hospital for several days and later had procedures to insert four metal plates in his face and head, Grimsby Live reports.
Mr Tucker's left eye was now permanently lower than his right and he suffered nerve damage to his lip and nose, causing him to dribble when he drank so that he needed to use a straw to drink.
She said that he was set to received reconstructive surgery at a future date.
Prosecutor Sophie Johns said that on that day Bennellick's wife approached Mr Tucker where a brief conversation took place over the foot-high wall which separated them.
However, following the exchange of words - which Ms Johns did not elaborate on in court - she left and returned to the family garden in Victoria Road, St Budeaux where she, Bennellick and their two children were.
However later that day, Bennellick, who had been strimming in his front garden, approached Mr Tucker, pushed his forehead against Mr Tucker's before exclaiming that Mr Tucker had headbutted him.
She said Bennellick grabbed Mr Tucker by the throat before pushing him to the floor whereupon he struck him "15 or 20 times".
Ms Johns said Bennellick shouted: "Die, b***ard", telling the older man to "stay down". He eventually stopped and shouted "do you need an ambulance, I will get you a f***ing ambulance."
Mrs Bennellick called for an ambulance, as did Mr Tucker and he was taken to Derriford Hospital where he was assessed as having "complicated facial fractures which will have a lifelong impact".
This included a skull fracture, a fractured eye socket and blood pooled behind his left eye causing a temporary loss of sight. He also suffered a bleed on his brain.
Ms Johns said that when he was arrested Bennellick, who has no previous convictions or cautions, was sitting on his sofa with an ice pack on his knuckles.
He later told police Mr Tucker had raised his hand while holding a trowel so he hit him "three or four times". He told police during interview he did not expect the level of injury caused and maintained that he was acting in self-defence.
Reading a victim impact statement in court, Mr Tucker said that he had "sepsis related Crohn's disease" since he was young and in March 2021 underwent an operation, after which he was convalescing.
He said the assault had left him permanently disfigured and he was self-conscious as people would frequently comment about his appearance.
He added that despite Bennellick moving to Grimsby in October 2021 he "didn't feel safe in my own home". He added that Bennellick was "twice my size and weight" and was "quite aware of my Crohn's".
Michael Green, defending, asked the judge, Mr Recorder Matthew Turner, to recognise there was "context" to the case, namely the long running dispute between the two neighbours.
Mr Recorder Turner acknowledged Mr Green's point that had Bennellick "not snapped" and acted out of character the matter would not have been before the courts, although he noted that this was no excuse for what took place.
Mr Green went on to note that Bennellick was a recognised devoted family man, who was not without his own medical issues, having had a recent diagnosis for a brain tumour which was currently non-cancerous, suffered cluster headaches, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes and was awaiting spinal surgery.
In addition, he noted how Bennellick's wife suffered the life-long and painful condition fibromyalgia, and that they had moved to Lincolnshire, which had caused great disruption to the family. As a result of his own medical problems - and his wife's - he effectively worked for her in her job as a bookkeeper.
Mr Green requested the judge consider the devastating effect on a daily basis a prison term would have not only on his client with his numerous medical conditions, but also on his wife and their young children.
But while Mr Recorder Turner said that while he accepted that as a result of the move to Lincolnshire, Bennellick was, as a pre-sentence report by the Probation Service had said, was a low risk of offending and that the assault was completely out of character, he had to also take into account the permanent damage he had caused Mr Tucker.
As a result he said the only response to such a "sustained, persistent assault" on a "vulnerable man", using "gratuitous violence" was a term of incarceration.
He sentenced Bennellick to 14 months in jail, of which he would serve half before being released on licence. He did not order any costs or compensation, but said Bennellick would have to pay a victim surcharge.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
