A WORCESTER man allegedly beat his mother's ex-boyfriend so badly he had to have his spleen removed, a court heard.

Matthew Linsey attacked Anthony Meredith - dubbed a paedophile on the estate where he lived - for vandalising her car.

Guy Spollon, prosecuting, said Mr Meredith had made life "hell" for Linsey's mother Jane after their year-long relationship broke up.

Mr Meredith had admitted criminal damage of her car aerial when he appeared before a magistrates' court.

It was claimed that on the night of the attack that Mr Meredith and Mrs Linsey had an argument in the Poacher's Pocket pub.

As he walked to his home in Rodborough Drive, Warndon, around midnight he was attacked by two people, but escaped. Just yards from his front door, he was hit from behind, but never saw his assailant.

Karen Chadwick, who told Worcester Crown Court she saw a man holding what looked like a bat, picked out the defendant on a police identity parade.

Linsey, aged 23, of Rodborough Close, denied inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Meredith in August last year.

He insisted to police he was not the attacker and no witnesses actually saw the victim being struck, said Mr Spollon.

But the circumstantial evidence included his "clear motive" over the damaged car.

The prosecutor said Linsey drove up at high speed after receiving a phone call that his mother's Peugeot had been vandalised.

He was incensed and displayed "hostile intent" by banging on Mr Meredith's door while waving a stick about.

Mr Spollon claimed he also asked a teenager to dispose of the stick after the crime.

Mr Meredith, aged 35, admitted in evidence that he was prosecuted for the car damage.

He had "a few words" with Mrs Linsey in the pub before he was attacked, first by two people and then by a single assailant.

"I was hit really hard on the shoulder and back with a plank of wood or a baseball bat," he said.

"At home I sat down and started coughing up blood.

"I never saw anyone. He came from behind. By the time I turned round he had gone."

Defence counsel Adam Western claimed there was a rumour on Mr Meredith's estate that he was a paedophile, but Mr Meredith denied hearing any such suggestion.

Mr Western said the victim had no idea whether he was attacked by a woman or a man.

The trial continues.