A married couple carried out a brutal attack on a man in his own home - over a piece of cheese.
Michelle and Gary Thorpe were asked to go to the home of the victim by Paul Ryder, 62, who had been accused of stealing cheese belonging to the man from a shared fridge.
Derby Crown Court heard that Michelle stamped on the head of her victim so hard, she left an imprint of the sole of her boot in his face.
Her husband Gary left him “dripping in blood” following the attack, which was so brutal that he might lose the sight in one of his eyes.
Judge Shaun Smith QC said: “This incident came about because of an argument over some cheese.
“I have been involved in a number of cases over the years where an argument which started over such a trivial matter ended up with someone being killed.
“You, Michelle Thorpe, got stuck in with your feet and stamped on him so hard that the imprint of your shoe was on his face.”
Abigail Joyce, prosecuting, said the attack happened in the early hours of March 16 last year at the shared accommodation, where both Ryder and the victim were living in Matlock.
Miss Joyce said Ryder, who is known by the nickname of “Podge”, had been accused of stealing cheese belonging to the 34-year-old man and so he called the the couple for back up.
Both arrived having been drinking.
She said: “He said to them over the phone, ‘he’s here now, I will let you in’ which he did.
“They then assaulted him, grabbing him and putting him into another resident’s room.
“That person said Mr Thorpe and the man were fighting one-on-one and then Mr Thorpe got on top and was described as ‘pummelling him in the face repeatedly’.
“He said it was brutal, he said Mr Thorpe was not holding back.”
Miss Joyce said Mrs Thorpe, 41, then went into the room and delivered the stamp to the victim’s face.
He then managed to lock himself in the room before jumping out of a window and running away knocking on people’s front doors for help.
One resident let him in and called an ambulance.
He suffered a 4cm cut underneath one of his eyes and extensive bruising to his face and body.
The Thorpes from Chesterfield, and Ryder from Matlock, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The couple were jailed for 16 months while Ryder has been handed a suspended sentence.
Judge Smith said to Tom Heath, for father-of-two Ryder: “This was all over a piece of cheese.”
Mr Heath replied: “Yes, and there is no getting over that.
“He accepts responsibility for starting the whole thing although there was no physical violence on his part and he was genuinely shocked at the level of violence used by the other two defendants.”
David Webster, representing the other two defendants, said Michelle Thorpe is a mother-of-three who suffered domestic violence in the past.
He said: “She has got to grips with alcohol abuse which has blighted most of her adult life.”
Mr Webster said Gary Thorpe “should not have got himself involved in someone else’s argument”.
He said: “He took up arms on behalf of Mr Ryder and now faces the prospect of spending the festive period behind bars.”
