A man was left unable to bite his nails and has struggled to eat after a former childhood friend broke his jaw. The victim's jaw sometimes locks and takes ten minutes to work again as a result of the devastating injury inflicted at the hands of business owner Thomas Heald.
Car valeter Heald admitted wounding his former pal and was jailed for one year and two months, suspended for 12 months, at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, June 27. Judge Rupert Mayo ordered he complete 15 rehabilitation activity days, pay his victim £1,500 compensation, make a contribution towards prosecution costs of £200 and pay a victim surcharge.
The offence happened when Heald, 22, of Main Street, Kirton, in Newark and Sherwood, was in a car with a woman. The victim saw them in his car and he reversed up to chat in Rufford Avenue, Retford, on July 3, 2020. "The balloon went up," said Gareth Gimson, prosecuting, when something was said by the victim.
READ MORE: Stalker told woman he would 'burn her house down with her in it'
After a scuffle outside their cars, both men tried to deliver blows and the altercation ended. The victim then tried to walk away but Heald landed one blow to the side of the his face, breaking his jaw.
Consequently, he went to Rotherham General Hospital with two fractures to his lower jaw and loose teeth, leading to a three-day hospital stay with his jaw repaired and an attempt to restore his bite.
But the court heard how he still struggles to eat at times, can't bite his fingernails, as he jaw will not shut properly, and he has suffered stress and anxiety, and has ongoing problems with his teeth.
Siward James Moore, mitigating, said Heald now has little to do with his victim. The woman, who was in the car, has, "vanished from the scene".
Read next:
