Brian Nicol (Image: South Wales Police)
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A 58-year-old man has been jailed for 16 months after he burst into a Swansea car garage armed with a tyre iron and attacked a woman he accused of spiking his wife.
Brian Michael Nicol, of Prince of Wales Road, Dyfatty, Swansea, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon. He entered his pleas on the day he had been due to stand trial.
The attack
Prosecutor Georgia Donohue told the court the assault took place on the evening of April 18 last year at the Ensign car sales garage on Carmarthen Road, Swansea. The business was closed at the time, and the victim had called in to visit the owner, who was a friend of hers.
At around 8.50pm Nicol arrived and began hammering on the office door, shouting “What have you said to my missus!” When the woman opened the door, Nicol – carrying a tyre iron – forced his way inside. He grabbed her, threw her to the floor, and got on top of her, striking her repeatedly before kicking and stamping on her.
After the assault, Nicol sat down in a chair inside the office and accused his victim of having “spiked” his wife. He then left the premises, and the attack was subsequently reported to police, leading to his arrest.
Injuries
The victim sustained bruising and a cut to her wrist, marks to her neck, and a cut and bruising to her shoulder.
Criminal record
The court heard Nicol had 31 previous convictions spanning 77 offences, the majority of which related to acquisitive and drug offences. He had one prior conviction for violence – a common assault dating back to 2008 – and was last before the courts in 2016 for possession of a Class C drug.
Defence
Alycia Carpanini, representing Nicol, told the court that her client had been free from drugs for between five and 10 years following a long-standing heroin addiction, and had been working hard to avoid falling back into his former lifestyle. She said Nicol was a working man who had been “shocked” at his own behaviour on the night in question.
Sentencing
Judge Huw Rees said it appeared Nicol had been seeking some sort of “revenge” for what he believed had happened to his wife when he forced his way into the garage and attacked the woman. The judge acknowledged that Nicol’s record showed he was not usually a violent man, but said he had lost his temper and acted in anger in what was a “disgraceful incident”.
Judge Rees said a sentence of immediate custody was inevitable. With a one-third discount applied for his guilty pleas, Nicol was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He will serve up to half in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. A restraining order was also imposed, prohibiting Nicol from contacting his victim for 10 years.
