By Court Reporter

A DRINKING session ended with a 37-year-old Stroud man brutally attacking his brother in law with a hammer and causing three head injuries, a court heard today.

The incident was sparked by Lee Kelly and his wife Rachel taunting his brother-in-law Paul Harrison, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

Mr Harrison got so fed up with the banter that he pushed Mrs Kelly over - which led to Lee grabbing a hammer and hitting Mr Harrison from behind, the prosecution said.

Kelly, of Devereaux Crescent in Ebley, admitted unlawfully wounding Paul Harrison on August 24, 2015.

A more serious charge of wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was not proceeded with by the prosecution.

He was given a 16-month jail term suspended for two years and ordered to do 75 hours of unpaid work. He was also placed on a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Prosecutor Rupert Lowe said that on August 23 last year Mr Harrison and his partner Laura Forster - Mrs Kelly's sister - visited the Kelly’s at home.

Kelly and Mr Harrison had never got on very well but because their partners were sisters they nevertheless got together socially from time to time, Mr Lowe said.

He said Kelly and his wife had a habit of taunting Harrison, adding: "It was a habit they continued with that evening and night.

"By 6.30am Mr Harrison was really fed up with this banter. He challenged Rachel about it. There was an argument which then got out of hand.

"Rachel got 'in his face.' He pushed her away. This caused her to fall over. It seems that seeing this and no doubt interpreting it as an attack on his wife the defendant grabbed a hammer.

"From behind, he set about Mr Harrison, hitting him about the head with the hammer. Mr Harrison describes repeated blows - three separate wounds were inflicted.

“Mr Harrison was literally pouring with blood but he managed to fight back. He knocked the defendant over with his fists and then left and went to his brother's home.”

Mr Lowe said a neighbour saw Kelly leaving with the hammer and returning later without it. It had never been located.

Mr Harrison was later taken to hospital and had to have six stitches in a 4cm cut to the forehead, seven stitches to another 4cm cut on the top of the head and a 1cm cut at the back of the head needing two stitches.

Kelly had a previous conviction for domestic violence on his wife in 2014, added Mr Lowe.

Stroud News and Journal:

Giles Nelson, defending, said that between them Kelly and his wife have five children to support. He described Kelly as 'a working man, a responsible man.'

"There appears to have been a particular dynamic between these two men which was unhealthy when alcohol was involved," he said.

"On that night he had not been planning to drink like this - he had work to go to in the morning.

“But his sister-in-law and Mr Harrison arrived - Mr Harrison was not working at the time. There appear to have been some childish moments and the flare up initially appears to have been between Mr Harrison and his sister-in-law."

Passing sentence Recorder Michael de Vere Hodge QC told him: "This is a shocking fall from grace and entirely outside your character and not to be anticipated.

"I have to decide whether society is better served by a suspended sentence on you rather than immediately sending you to prison.

“I am persuaded there is a good chance you can be helped in the community with your drinking and any kind of violent behaviour which follows excessive drinking."