Swansea Man Fears Death in Brutal Metal Ball Sock Attack

A Swansea man has told a court he feared he was going to die after being repeatedly struck with a metal ball inside a sock, leaving him needing facial reconstruction surgery and a metal plate in his face. ⚖️

Paul D’Urso suffered multiple facial fractures in the horrific attack near Swansea city centre last November, requiring a lengthy operation to realign his face, Swansea Crown Court heard.

The violence began on 3rd November when 60-year-old Anthony Wiggins and Paul Matthews, 48, asked Mr D’Urso for money during a drinking session at Wiggins’ Maritime Quarter flat. When he refused, Matthews assaulted him, stamping on his face and body and allegedly using a wooden chair leg.

Two days later, angry about being arrested over the incident, Wiggins launched an even more vicious attack on Mr D’Urso using the metal ball in a sock as a weapon. The court heard Wiggins later boasted he’d given his victim a “good hiding”. 😔

In a victim impact statement, Mr D’Urso told the court: “The incident has left me feeling like a different person. I’ve lost all confidence. I was an outgoing and independent person. I cared for my mother who is blind. Now I feel I can’t look after myself and I fear I can’t look after my mother.

“At night when drifting off to sleep I’m startled by noises, thinking I’m going to be attacked again. I’m living in fear. Mr Wiggins lives within 200m of my flat and I’m scared he might try and harm me again.

“My teeth were knocked loose and my back teeth were cracked. I now find it too painful to wear dentures and my speech is unclear. I’m struggling to remember what day it is.

“I was of the belief I was going to die. I have children and grandchildren who need me and these attacks nearly took me from them.”

Judge Christopher Felstead sentenced Wiggins, who has 93 previous convictions for 183 offences, to five years and five months in custody. Matthews received 13 months suspended for 18 months with a rehabilitation requirement.

Both men are subject to indefinite restraining orders preventing them from approaching Mr D’Urso.