Lambourn man faces jail for beating friend in "vicious attack"

Newbury magistrates heard that victim Grahame Thompson - thinking Marc Andrew Wise was joking - responded to a threat with the words: “Go on then!”
What followed was a sustained assault that left Mr Thompson with multiple injuries and the prospect of prison for 26-year-old Mr Wise, of Old School Yard, High Street.
Helen Waite, prosecuting, said: “The victim took Mr Wise to task about how he perceived he was treating their mutual friend Kenneth Matthews, known as Kenny.
“He felt Mr Wise was treating Kenny’s home as if it was his own.”
She added: “That’s what started the altercation. Mr Wise then threatened: ‘I’ll knock your block off.’”
Mr Thompson later told police he thought the threat was a joke and Ms Waite said: “Perhaps unwisely, he thought he would call his friend’s bluff, saying: ‘Go on then, hit me.’”
But there was no bluff, magistrates were told, and Mr Wise suddenly launched a vicious attack.
Ms Waite said: “The aggrieved received four punches to the head and fell to the ground. While on the ground he felt the defendant kick and stamp on his back, his body and, indeed, his head.
“Kenny, who saw the tail end of this, said the aggrieved was curled up on the floor while the defendant punched him, four times, in the head.”
Mr Thompson suffered cuts, multiple bruising and soreness to the face, the court heard, while Mr Wise “exercised his right to silence” during police interviews.
Ms Waite concluded: “An aggravating feature is that the sustained assault continued while the victim was on the ground.”
Mr Wise admitted assaulting Grahame Thompson by beating him in his Hungerford High Street home on October 5 this year.
His has previously been cautioned for offences of battery and criminal damage, and has a prior conviction for shoplifting, the court heard.
Representing himself, Mr Wise declined free legal representation, despite being warned he faced a possible jail sentence.
He told magistrates: “I was upset that day. I’m truly sorry. I just want to make amends.”
Mr Wise also told magistrates he suffered from mental health problems.
Presiding magistrate Ian Martin told him: “This was a very nasty assault.”
The court ordered pre-sentence reports and bailed Mr Wise until November 20 on condition he has no contact with Mr Thompson.