Sandwell strongman jailed for cowardly hammer attack on mechanic over repair row

Calvin McLeod, from Montague Road in Smethwick, fractured the garage owner's skull and continued raining hammer blows down on him as he lay defenceless on the floor of his Winson Green workshop.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how he confronted the man – described by the judge as a 'slight, retiring man' who stood a foot shorter than McLeod – because he'd refused to repair his mother's car.

McLeod marched into the Handsworth New Road body-shop on 17 October last year shouting 'what did you say to my mom' before pulling a hammer from his sleeve and launching a ferocious attack.

West Midlands Police officers traced the car to McLeod's family home but he evaded capture for a month until, on November 19, Met Police officers stopped him in Southall and found him with drugs and a lock-knife hidden in his boxer shorts.

The 29-year-old denied the attack but was picked out during an ID procedure and was placed near the garage at the time of the attack.

And at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday he was found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and jailed for 13 years; he was handed an extra 12-months behind bars for possessing an offensive weapon.

DC Lance Pritchard from West Midlands Police Force, said: "The victim was attacked at his place a work…a place he had every right to feel safe.

"McLeod said in court he enters strongman competitions and at 6ft 2ins was around a foot taller than the mechanic – given his physical advantage it makes the use of the hammer particularly unnecessary and cowardly.

"The judge said it was a mercy his victim wasn't killed and the jury were unanimous in finding him guilty in little over an hour.

"My best wishes go to the innocent victim in this case who was attacked over a petty, meaningless squabble and we wish him well in his recovery."