'The red mist came down': Thug whipped Wakefield man with a metal chain over missing money

The victim suffered lacerations to his face and burns to his body after a kettle full of boiling water also fell on him during the attack in the shared kitchen on Pinderfields Road, Wakefield.

Jermaine Alexander Gordon was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court this week for the unprovoked attack which happened on October 10, 2019.

Prosecutor Mehran Nassiri said Gordon had been at the house of multiple occupancy and had fallen asleep on the sofa during that afternoon.

When he woke up he could not find two £10 notes he said he had, so stormed into the kitchen where the victim was making a cup of coffee and began shouting at him.

He then began striking him across the head and face repeatedly with a chunky silver chain before the kettle fell from the side spilling the boiling contents over him.

Gordon only stopped whipping him when a third resident ran into the kitchen to try to break up the assault.

The victim needed hospital treatment with burns to his arm and back, along with abrasions to face, chest and abdomen.

Gordon, 30, of Nina Road, Bradford, was arrested sometime later but gave no-comment answers.

He initially denied a charge of wounding without intent but changed his plea on the day his trial was due to start.

He has six previous convictions for 11 offences, including unlawful wounding and assault.

Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma, said Gordon had the support of his family and added: "He realises on the day that it came from nowhere and he has displayed genuine remorse.

"He is desperate to change. He wants a job and is working with a rehabilitation team to find some voluntary work as a stepping stone to employment."

Judge Christopher Batty was persuaded to suspended the prison sentence he handed down.

He said: "There is something in you, that if things go against you, you lose your temper. It really is the red mist.

"You thought he had taken your money and you went for him.

"Unfortunately, he was not seriously injured but it must have been deeply unpleasant.

"The only thing that stopped you was somebody coming in and intervening."

He gave him a 19-month jail term, but suspended it for 18 months.