Banbury man who glassed his love rival has jail threat

Haydn Chilton, 23, had brought down the glass bottle on his victim’s face after punching him to the ground and kicking him in Banbury last year.

Pictures shown to the magistrates on Tuesday (August 8) showed the victim’s badly-bruised and bloodshot eyes, along with cuts to his head.

Appearing before Oxford Magistrates’ Court via video link from HMP Bullingdon, Chilton pleaded guilty to a single count of causing grievous bodily harm.

Prosecuting, Aamir Barrett said that the defendant and victim were known to each other. Both had been going out with the same woman.

There were ‘numerous issues between them’, he said. On January 22 last year, the victim had tried to get hold of his former partner, although he had been blocked from contacting her when she began a relationship with Chilton.

He went to the woman’s home, where he bumped into Chilton and his ex-partner together. All three were said to be drunk.

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“Chilton is believed to have said ‘Steve, Steve, you’re not supposed to be on these parts.’ Then he began punching the complainant to the face and knocked him to the floor,” Mr Barrett said.

The defendant kicked him several times as he lay on the ground, produced a glass bottle then struck him in the face, causing the bottle to shatter.

In a parting shot, he told the prone victim: “This is what he gets for sleeping with my girlfriend.” Mr Barrett said: “Earlier, the defendant is believed to have seen the complainant in bed with his partner.”

Dana Bilan, defending, said: “Mr Chilton is sorry and he has been apologetic. This is something that happened over a year ago.”

She accepted that the matter was so serious it would have to be sent up to be dealt with by a crown court judge.

The magistrates sent the case to Oxford Crown Court for sentencing, as the likely punishment exceeded the maximum six month jail term available to the justices. He will appear in front of a judge on August 29.

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Causing grievous bodily harm, the charge admitted by Chilton, carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment when dealt with at the crown court. However, the matter can also be dealt with at the magistrates’ court, where it carries a top sentence of six months behind bars.

Having pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, Chilton can expect a reduction of a third compared to the sentence he would have received had he fought the matter to trial.

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