A Milford man who bent his neighbour’s finger back during a shop floor assault has admitted the offence in court.
Twenty-five-year-old Jonathan Lee James, of Prescelly Place, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court last week to admit a charge of assault by beating.
Prosecutor, Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that the defendant and the complainant had been neighbours for 12 months, and had not been getting on.
They saw each other in Milford Haven’s Lidl store on July 28, and tensions heightened between the pair.
A confrontation then took place, with the complainant shouting a derogatory term across the shopfloor at Mr. James, who then picked up the victim’s trolley and bent his finger back, resulting in the injury.
When interviewed by police, the defendant was shown footage of the incident and accepted that it was him.
Magistrates were then shown a photo of the complainant’s injury.
Defence solicitor Jonathan Webb said there had been numerous petty incidents between his client and the complainant.
He added that Mr. James was out shopping with his wife and children when the assault took place.
He explained that his client did not want his partner to get involved in the matter and lost his temper with the complainant.
He did not dispute the injuries, and went on to tell magistrates that Mr. James had since moved away from the complainant.
Magistrates gave Mr. James a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered him to pay £100 in compensation to the complainant.
He was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £21 victim surcharge.