A TRAVELLER who beat a father of four unconscious with a metal pole following a dispute about a child's quad bike has been jailed for three years.
Wayne Buckley, from Heybridge, subjected David Holroyd to a "dangerously persistent and prolonged attack" in July last year and was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.
The brutal incident left Mr Holroyd, 39, with a broken jaw, a fractured cheekbone and a permanent scar across his nose.
It also traumatised his wife and 16-year-old daughter, who both witnessed the salesman being battered unconscious outside his home in Woodham Road, Stow Maries.
"I'm pleased he's in jail but I would've thought he deserved a longer sentence," said Mr Holroyd. "He's just trouble, I know people in Maldon who won't walk on the same side of the road as him."
The attack stemmed from an incident that unfolded more than six years ago when Mr Holroyd believed his children's quad bikes were stolen by Buckley, of Hillar Close.
"I didn't have any evidence but I was sure it was him," Mr Holroyd told the Chronicle after the hearing. "He was near the house and then the next night they were gone."
"The night of the incident I had been round a friend's house and as I left to go home I saw Buckley with some lads standing in the road, which was strange because we live in the middle of nowhere.
"We ended up having words about the quad bikes and then Wayne turned around and asked me to fight."
Angry and upset by the confrontation, Mr Holroyd admits he then made insulting remarks about Buckley's links to the travelling community, but from there the situation rapidly escalated out of control.
"My family came out the house and told me to come inside, but as I turned to walk away he hit me with a weapon – and that's the last thing I can remember," added Mr Holroyd.
Buckley beat Mr Holroyd, who has four daughters, unconscious with a metal pole taken from the boot of his car before police were called and he was rushed to hospital.
Buckley had denied striking Mr Holroyd with a weapon, claiming instead that he had punched him with a clenched fist.
But this was rejected by the court, who found him guilty of the attack last week.
Passing down the sentence, Judge Silas Reid described the assault as serious, adding that the only appropriate punishment was prison.
"This was a dangerously persistent and prolonged attack with a weapon. He was walking away from you and it took place in front of his wife.
"It was an absolutely terrifying incident to see and his wife was left screaming in fear."
