Man attacked rival in street with spanner
A hardware store owner struck a rival in the face with a weapon after spotting him while driving along a street, a court heard.
Sufraz Khan flew into a rage when he saw the victim walking along the street, getting out of his van and confronting him with what is thought to have been a spanner.
The man was struck in the eye during the attack and his face was badly bruised, a judge was told.
The pair had been involved in a feud over money, recorder Jason Widoger said.
Father-of-two Khan, aged 45, who runs a hardware shop in Walsall, was told he was lucky to avoid an immediate prison sentence. He was given a nine month jail term, suspended for two years and will have to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
Khan, of Spouthouse Lane, Great Barr, was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation to his victim over the violent attack in June 2014.
Recorder Widoger told him at Wolverhampton Crown Court: "Very little of this saga does you any credit at all.
"You saw him, by chance driving down the street, and decided to take your opportunity.
"You equipped yourself with something, probably a spanner, and you went up to him and struck him once.
"It caused an enormous bruise but by great good fortune it caused no lasting injury to the eye."
The recorder said Khan, who was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial in February, deserved to go to prison but decided to suspended his sentence as he was of previous good character and there were concerns his family would struggle to get by without the support of the father.
He added: "He was extremely lucky and you, frankly, are extremely lucky."
Khan's barrister Miss Saleema Mahmood insisted he regretted the attack.
She said: "It was a single blow, one born out of frustration at events that occurred previously and one Mr Khan sincerely shows remorse for."
