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A father of three who broke his brother-in-law’s eye socket in a street attack was saved from jail.
John Grier attacked Paul Elackman when they met by chance at the time of a heated “family feud.”
The 62-year-old “lost control” and repeatedly struck his wife’s brother, knocking him to the ground, on Allerton Road.
But he was released from Liverpool Crown Court after a judge said he was “driven by an emotional reaction to a very stressful situation.”
Lloyd Morgan, the prosecutor, said that Grier, of Out Lane, Woolton, was married to Elackman’s sister, Sarah Grier.
However, he said that a “family dispute” led the victim “to receive abusive phone calls from both the accused and his wife.”
He said Mr. Elackman was visiting his elderly mother at her home on January 1 of this year when he received a phone call from Ms. Grier, “who engaged in nasty abuse” about him.
The next day, around 9.55pm, Mr. Elackman was walking down the street in Allerton when he noticed a man approaching, who then grabbed him.
Mr. Morgan said he recognized Grier, who “did not say anything to the complainant, but struck him in the face several times in what was a repeated assault.”
The victim fell to the ground and Grier escaped, before bystanders came to Mr. Elackman’s aid and took him to hospital for treatment.
Morgan said: “He suffered a displaced fracture of the medial wall of the left orbit.”
The prosecutor said that fortunately the fracture did not cause any lasting “facial or cosmetic problems,” and when he was seen again in February, he did not require surgery.
Summarizing a personal statement from the victim, Morgan said: “He was extremely nervous and conscious when surrounded by people, fearing they would attack him.”
“As a result, he was prescribed medication. He suffered a lot of discomfort and pain.”
Shortly after the attack, a witness directed police to the home of a friend that Grier had entered and was arrested and found to have marks on the knuckles of his right hand.
They took him to a police station where he referred to “that boy I hit,” but made no comment when interviewed by the officers.
Grier was charged with intentionally inflicting serious bodily injury, but admitted the misdemeanor of inflicting serious bodily injury, which was accepted by the Crown.
Ken Heckle, in defense, said his client wanted to withdraw any suggestion he made in a pre-sentencing report that it was “somehow in self-defense or a pre-emptive strike situation.”
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He said Grier had an unrelated minor conviction from 1998 and asked the judge to treat him “effectively as a man of good character.”
Heckle said his client’s 38-year marriage had broken up, adding: “The defendant in his own mind has already suffered.”
He said the family feud was not sparked by Grier, but led him to move out of their home, even though his wife was not necessarily “supportive of his brother.”
The attorney said Grier suffered from anxiety as a result, adding: “His life at 62 has fallen apart a bit.”
He said his client had a “good positive character” and previously had a very good job in the Merchant Marine, then worked as a taxi driver, before working in psychiatric wards at Stoddart House in Aintree and Broadoak Hospital in Broadgreen.
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Mr. Heckle said that Grier had previously encountered Mr. Elackman and managed to control himself, but when he got off the bus and was on his way to visit a friend, which led to another “chance meeting” between them, “the red mist fell. “.
He said a witness described the attack as only 30 seconds long and that “fortunately” his victim did not require surgery.
However, he said Grier had “found it very difficult to look in the mirror given what he did,” he was “genuinely scared” at the prospect of prison, and urged the judge not to take him to jail.
Judge Rachel Smith said Grier attacked Elackman “as a result of losing control” and that street attacks can lead to life-changing head injuries or death.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
He agreed that Grier was not a risk or danger to the public, had no history of poor enforcement of court orders, and had “a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”
Judge Smith said: “Your behavior that night was prompted by an emotional reaction to a very stressful situation, not of your making, so at the time you were ill-equipped to deal with its impact on you.”
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She served him 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement of 30 days and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Smith issued a restraining order preventing Grier from contacting his victim or Mr. Elackman’s wife for three years.
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