A JEALOUS man broke a man’s nose, jaw and eye socket during a ‘moment of madness’ when he attacked a man in his 60s from behind.

Christopher Farren, of Whetty Lane, Rubery, punched Gerald Ellis and kicked him while he lay on the ground during the attack, Worcester Crown Court was told.

The 54-year-old became jealous because Mr Ellis was talking to his partner and CCTV footage of the attack was played to the court.

Mr Ellis suffered injuries described as ‘catastrophic’ by the judge including a broken jaw and three other fractures of his face around the eye which has permanently affected the position of the eye.

In a victim personal statement, read out by prosecutor Thomas Griffiths, Mr Ellis said he had to have 13 or 14 stitches in his face and required six hospital appointments.

He said: “My right eye now sits back further than my other eye and will never re-right itself. I want my eyes to look like they did before when they were even.”

He described how the injury made him self-conscious and that people stared at the eye. Mr Ellis felt uncomfortable brushing his teeth because he has to look in the mirror. Mr Ellis, who said he was attacked from behind and had no opportunity to defend himself, also lost two weeks wages (£1,000) because of the injuries.

Mr Griffiths argued that it was a category one offence which involved a shod foot and serious injuries.

He said: “It’s an aggravating feature that the kick was delivered while the victim was on the floor. That could suggest he is particularly vulnerable at this point, not being able to defend himself.”

Farren has four previous convictions for 10 separate offences including an old conviction from 1994 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Adam Williams, defending, argued that it was a category two case with a starting point of one and a half years in prison and a range of one to three years.

Mr Williams said when his client was approached by a police officer he immediately accepted what he had done.

"He describes this simply as a moment of madness. It was a jealous rage."

He added: "He feels sick every time he talks about it. He feels thoroughly disgusted in his own actions."

Judge Robert Juckes QC said: “He had got into a conversation with a woman with whom you were associated. In what I am prepared to accept was a moment of madness and quite out of character you attacked him and it was a vicious attack.”

From the CCTV footage he had viewed from Rubery Social Club where the attack took place he said it appeared to be a single blow that had floored the victim followed by one or two kicks.

The defendant allowed himself to be ushered away by the woman and someone else assisting her.

But he added: “The results of that attack were catastrophic. You broke his nose. Most seriously you broke the bones around his right eye so it has caused a movement of the orbit of the eye which he describes – and I have no doubt that you accept completely – is going to be a matter of embarrassment for many years to come, probably for life."

The judge sentenced him to two years in prison suspended for two years.

He must pay £6,000 compensation to the victim in one lump sum within 12 months.

He was placed on a weekend curfew between 6am and 7am on Friday and between 6pm and 4am on Sunday for six months.