Four men, including a father and son, have been locked up for a total of 30 years for a 'fearful act of family vengeance'.
Victim Graham Gigg was attacked as he slept and hit on the head with a meat cleaver during the attack at his Clacton home.
But a court heard Mr Gigg was the wrong person and, as the assault was taking place, one of his attackers said: "That's not the man."
Three members of the Moore family and a relative had gone to the wrong flat in the town's Hadleigh Road.
When they found the right flat, their intended victim was not there so they 'trashed' the place, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
John Moore, his brother Roy Moore senior, his son Roy junior and Anthony Elliott were told by Judge David Goodin the attack had been 'particularly savage and brutal'.
They were locked up for a total of 30 years.
The court heard that in early August last year Mr Gigg, 26, was living in a flat in Hadleigh Road. A friend and neighbour was a Rex Hill.
It appears there were problems between Mr Hill and Roy Moore junior and Moore was apparently told to stay away from the area after the two got involved in a row.
On August 17, the Moores and Elliott carried out "a fearful act of family revenge," John Butcher, prosecuting, said.
"One of them had a meat cleaver and someone else a length of timber, and that meat cleaver was brought down on the head of a sleeping Graham Gigg and the wood was used to beat him about the legs," Mr Butcher said.
Defence barristers for the Moores and Elliott said it was a regrettable incident and came about because of a misplaced sense of family loyalty.
THE CHARGES - Roy Moore senior, 42, of Muswell Hill, London, his 19-year-old son Roy junior, of Anchor Road, Clacton, and Anthony Elliott, 25, of Grove Avenue, Walton, all denied charges of aggravated burglary and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Gigg, but were convicted after a trial last month.
John Moore, 40, of Anchor Road, Clacton, admitted the aggravated burglary charge before the trial started.
Roy Moore senior was jailed for a total of ten years, his brother John Moore was jailed for eight years and Elliott was jailed for seven years. Roy Moore junior was sent to a young offenders' institution for a total of five years.
Published Monday August 16, 2004
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