A 50-YEAR-OLD Stroud man who launched an unprovoked assault on his neighbour, causing him very serious harm, was suffering from ‘monothematic delusions’ at the time, a Gloucester judge heard on Friday.

Eric Haines of Chalford Hill pleaded guilty at Gloucester crown court to causing Nigel Eagers grievous bodily harm in May last year.

Judge Ian Lawrie QC heard from community psychiatric nurse Andy Webb that Haines was now diagnosed with monothematic delusions, believing he could hear his neighbours discussing personal and private matters about his life.

The judge granted an adjournment so that a potential mental health treatment requirement could be explored as part of the sentence.

The court heard that Mr Eagers was cleaning his car on his driveway when the offence was committed.

Prosecutor, Ian Fenny, said that Haines approached Mr Eagers “in an aggressive and angry mood” and told him ‘I have just about had enough of your son’s f***ing bad language’.

Mr Fenny said: “He repeated the allegation, and confronted him in a physical way. The complainant reacted and the defendant said if you take another step ‘I will punch your lights out’. That is exactly what he did.”

The judge agreed to adjourn the case until February 15 so that a mental health treatment requirement could be explored as a potential sentence.