A JEALOUS dad who broke a love rival’s skull with a ‘blindside’ punch in a Worcester nightclub is facing a potential jail sentence.
Jordan Greenham admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm against Liam Goddard in Bushwackers when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.
Greenham, aged 25, of Lancelott Court, Pershore was rearraigned at the request of his advocate during a hearing in court one before Judge Nicolas Cartwright.
The clerk put the charge to him again and he pleaded guilty to ‘unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm’ against Mr Goddard on June 22 last year. The case was prosecuted by Amanda O’Mara while Jason Patel appeared for the defence.
No plea had originally been indicated and a trial had been scheduled to take place this October which can now be vacated to allow other cases to be heard.
Judge Cartwight said: “The prosecution case is that Mr Greenham is the ex-boyfriend of this young woman who has formed a relationship with the complainant.”
Mr Cartwright also said an independent eyewitness had described the blow as ‘a punch from the blindside’.
However, he said Greenham said it was him who was in a relationship with the young woman and ‘the complainant had been sleeping with her’.
Jason Patel, for Greenham, said there had been ‘a crossover in the relationship in respect of that driving forward his misjudgement of the scenario’.
Mr Patel said he believed the case was between category two and three within the sentencing guidelines with a starting point of 18 months in custody.
He said his client had a single reprimand on his record from June last year and was prepared to take ‘a pragmatic approach’, asking if the judge would consider a high level community order in the absence of a pre-sentence report which needs to be prepared by the probation service.
However, judge Cartwright said: “I think there should be a pre-sentence report and I will adjourn for the preparation of one.”
The sentencing hearing was adjourned until August 14. The judge told Greenham he would receive credit in due course for pleading guilty in advance of the trial, ‘not as much as if you had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity but more than if you had been convicted after trial’.
“You have done the sensible thing in that regard,” the judge told him.
The judge granted bail on one condition – that Greenham co-operate with the probation service in the preparation of a pre-sentence report. He also warned the defendant that his decision to adjourn the case was not to be taken as any indication of what the ultimate sentence would be as this would be a matter for the sentencing judge on the day.
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