A jobless teenager who attacked his neighbour avoided prison after a court heard he acted 'out of character'.
Robert Wilson hit his victim with a knuckle-duster and then chased him, brandishing a garden fork. His neighbour needed stitches for a gashed head, Chelmsford magistrates heard.
Wilson, 18, denied assault at an earlier trial but was found guilty.
He continued to deny he was the aggressor but admitted approaching his victim following a dispute on May 9 last year.
Peter Richards, mitigating, said the knuckle-duster was, in fact, a studded leather wrist strap.
The court heard Wilson, of Johnson Close, Braintree, was previously of good character. He was given 120 hours' community punishment and ordered to pay £100 compensation with £200 costs.
Published Thursday, February 17, 2005
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