Jaw broken in brutal street attack

A nightmare neighbour who left the man next door with a broken jaw and shattered teeth after a drunken attack has been locked up.

James Levy’s victim needed surgery following the beating and said he had “never felt pain like it” when doctors removed the wires from his jaw. Victim Simon Groves, whose stepson was also assaulted by Levy a year earlier, said he now suffered panic attacks as a result and was afraid of gangs of youths and walking the streets after dark.

Levy, aged 19, of Bankwell Street, Brierley Hill, “hated” his 39-year-old neighbour and had drunk eight cans of lager before the assault on April 24, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

Miss Rhiannon Jones, prosecuting, said Mr Groves, a shift worker, had left his house for work at 10.30pm as Levy, his brother and friends sat on a nearby wall.

“As he approached the group, the defendant walked towards him and punched him in the face. His brother tried to hold him back.

“Mr Groves called the police from a telephone box. When officers arrived, Levy was lying down in the street vomiting, he was very drunk and aggravated.”

Levy pleaded guilty to assault on July 29. Judge John Warner sentenced him to six months in a young offenders’ institution.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Groves said: “I’ll be numb from the bottom of my lip to the bottom of my chin. I have never felt pain like it when they removed the wires.”

Mr John Evans, defending, said: “There is history between the parties and that anger boiled over.”

Judge Warner said: “This was a deliberate attack and someone tried to stop you but you carried on. You caused him nasty injuries.

“The two fractures needed an operation. This is not the first time you have used violence.”