A woman was left cowering in her bathroom fearing she had a fractured skull after she was viciously attacked by a so-called ‘friend’.
Teesside Crown Court heard how John Nicholson broke his pal’s nose in a violent assault during a drunken row.
Now, the 23-year-old has narrowly avoided a stint behind bars.
The court heard how the thug pushed the woman’s face into the ground and then stole her Kindle from her Middlesbrough home.
Recorder Michael Slater told the thug: “At the time she was a friend of yours.
“In the course of an argument fuelled by drink you pushed her to the ground and then pushed her once more so that her face impacted with the surface.
“She suffered a fracture to her nose. That caused her considerable pain and discomfort at the time.
“There were fears that she could have fractured her skull. You’re probably very fortunate that she did not do so.”
Prosecutor Rachel Masters said the woman fled to a bathroom for safety and called for help.
But Nicholson, of Grosvenor Road, Jesmond, Newcastle, stole the woman’s Kindle before he left her home on the night of August 25 last year.
“It certainly seems that within a few hours of having done this, you weren’t particularly remorseful about what had happened,” said the judge. “The theft offence was despicable.”
He accepted that Nicholson’s attitude had now changed after he pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and theft, his first criminal offences.
Jessica Slaughter, mitigating, said: “She was a friend of his. He was particularly ashamed of himself after the incident. He struggles to explain how it happened.
“This is the first time he’s been in court. It certainly has been a sobering experience.
“He was under the influence of alcohol at the time and taking drugs. He was acting completely out of character.
“This gentleman is the type of person that doesn’t often come before the courts.
“He is extremely motivated to undergo any sentence or punishment that the court sees fit so that he can avoid custody.”
She added Nicholson reduced his drinking dramatically and had not taken any drugs since the attack, and he worked long hours in a full-time job.
The judge told Nicholson: “The sentence I’m about to pass upon you will bring it home, if it wasn’t needed already, to show how narrowly you’ve avoided going to prison today.
“The court takes this very seriously indeed.”
Nicholson was given a 15-month jail term suspended for two years with a four-month curfew between 11pm and 6am.
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