'I’m the bigger man', Simon Raw told brother Lee :: Defendant also punched, bit , kicked and headbutted sibling after boozing in Stockton
A drunken man attacked his brother with a can of air freshener after downing three litres of cider.
Simon Matthew Raw punched, headbutted, bit, kicked and hit his brother over the head with the can.
At just 28 he had 83 offences on his record and constantly flouted court orders.
But a Teesside Crown Court judge gave him another chance with his first suspended prison sentence.
The judge accepted Raw couldn’t get help for his problems in a short prison sentence.
So Raw was set free with supervision, unpaid work, alcohol treatment and a restraining order.
Raw attacked brother Lee after they and their girlfriends went out boozing the day in Stockton.
He’d drank three litres of cider and downed a glass of vodka before the violence at his brother’s girlfriend’s flat.
Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said it was a sustained and repeated assault on March 13.
The victim said Raw came up to him with his hands up saying: “I’m the bigger man.”
Raw then swung his fists wildly at his brother’s face and bit his left cheek.
When the bleeding victim went to the bathroom to clean himself up, his assailant followed him, shouted abuse and hit him to the back of the head.
His girlfriend said Raw headbutted him for no reason and punched him in the face with both fists.
Ignoring attempts to separate the two men, he bit his brother’s cheek and kicked him in the ribs as he curled up on the floor.
She said Raw picked up a can of air freshener and forcefully hit his brother’s head with it in the bathroom.
The victim’s head poured with blood from the head wound.
He also suffered the bite mark, two black eyes and injuries to his back, chest and shoulder.
The victim later said he had headaches, illness, sleeping difficulties and daily effects on his health.
He said he didn’t want to see his brother anymore.
Raw, of Lanehouse Road, Thornaby, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.
His previous convictions included one assault along with offences of dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, public disorder, possession of a blade and breaches of orders.
Duncan McReddie, defending, said Raw’s memories of the attack were vague because of alcohol.
He said his client knew he had to learn to control himself and curb his drinking.
Mr McReddie said: “He realises that his own approach to life prior to the assault has been wholly unacceptable.
“A bad mix of uncontrolled temper and sustained drinking has led to this assault, and he realises that he has to do something about that.
“It’s taken a long time for him to come to that realisation but he’s there now.
He said the remedial work Raw needed could not be done with a short prison term under sentencing guidelines.
He accepted Raw had numerous court orders in the past, “all of them breached”.
The judge, Recorder Graeme Cook, said the assault was “quite extraordinary”.
He told Raw: “For some bizarre reason matters got out of hand.
"For whatever reason, we still don’t know, you simply attacked your brother.”
He said the appropriate sentence was 22 months, including the two-and-a-half months he’d already spent remanded in custody.
“22 months means you’ll be out in about eight or nine months,” added the judge.
“That will mean internally in prison nothing could be done with you.
“You’ve breached community orders and essentially you’ve got away with it. Not this one.”
He gave Raw a 22-month prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision, 120 hours’ unpaid work and six months’ alcohol treatment.
Raw was given a five-year restraining order banning him from harassing, alarming, distressing, molesting or communicating with his brother or going to his address.
He was not ordered to pay the victim any compensation.
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