A jealous thug left a man with a broken jaw after he wrongly thought he was having an affair with his girlfriend.
Curtis Hurst, 32, went to the tattoo parlour owned by the man in Bury and asked to speak to him in ‘private’.
He then demanded the boss's phone to check the messages between his partner and the man, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
READ MORE:
When the man said he didn’t have his phone on him, Hurst, of Radcliffe, began patting him down before the man pushed him away. Immediately, Hurst punched the victim three or four times to the face with such force that his head hit the wall behind him.
The man was left with a broken jaw which required a metal plate, two teeth which were knocked out, and a gash to the back of his head.
Following a trial, Hurst was acquitted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but had earlier pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of unlawful wounding. Today he was handed a suspended prison sentence.
The court heard that Hurst’s now ex-girlfriend had a business premises above the tattoo parlour at the time.
On March 28 2019, Hurst arrived at the tattoo parlour on Rochdale Road at around 2.30pm, and was let in by another member of staff before asking to speak to the man in private.
They both went into a small kitchen when Hurst demanded to see the man’s phone.
“He said he did not have his phone on him, and you disbelieved that and started to pat him down to see if you could find his phone. When you did that, he responded by pushing you away from him,” Judge John Potter said.
“In turn, you responded to that by attacking him unlawfully. You are to be sentenced on the basis you punched him three or four times to the face in rapid succession.
“Those punches must have caused him very serious harm. At one point, the back of his head collided with the wall causing a gash to his head, and the other injuries included a cut to his eyebrow and his lip, a broken nose and a badly broken jaw.”
'You're a jealous man'
A female member of staff heard the commotion and intervened, putting herself between the two men. However, Hurst was still trying to get at the man and ended up assaulting her in the process too.
Fortunately, she suffered no injuries. He was eventually persuaded to stop and left the premises.
Giving evidence at the trial, the man said that he lost two of his teeth, and has been fitted with a metal plate which meant he had to live on a liquid diet for some time.
“You were a jealous man, particularly as you believed he had lied to you when you challenged him,” Judge Potter said.
“There is no excuse for the offence. You did not intend to harm him in the way that you did.”
Hurst was said to have previous convictions, none of which are related and he has not offended since 2012.
The court heard that Hurst had been in long term employment and was described as ‘hard working’ and ‘industrious’. His mother had already written a ‘distressing’ report suggesting that Hurst had ‘harmed himself’ immediately after the attack.
Sentencing, the judge said he was able to suspend the sentence because of his early guilty plea, lack of relevant previous convictions and that he had taken steps towards his rehabilitation.
“None of this mitigation justifies what you did, you know that, but there is sufficient mitigation here, just about, to suspend the custodial sentence,” he said.
Hurst, of Kilburn Road, was handed two years imprisonment which was suspended for two years, along with a three month electronically-monitored curfew between 9pm and 6am, 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 250 hours unpaid work. He must also pay £1,100 compensation to his male victim and £100 to his female victim.
See the latest court and crime news in your area by receiving email updates
