A PENRITH man feared for his life as he was attacked by an associate who was wielding a broken vodka bottle, leaving him with multiple injuries.

The victim suffered “grave” wounds to his head and a deep cut to his arm during the assault, which 34-year-old Anthony Scaife’s launched moments after allowing the victim into his Arnison Court home in Penrith on April 20.

Carlisle Crown Court  heard that the defendant believed the victim mistreated his partner and he said the man deserved what happened. 

Scaife, now of Victoria Road, Penrith, admitted intentionally causing the man grievous bodily harm and possessing amphetamine. Prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the facts.

He said the possible motivation for the violence was that the man he attacked was convicted of assaulting a woman he had been in a relationship with.

Scaife had also earlier told people he knew that he hated the man. On the day, the man visited the defendant, intending to ask for a cigarette.

But as soon as he walked into Scaife’s property, the man noticed that the defendant was "gritting his teeth" and he appeared to be angry. “He immediately received a heavy blow to the forehead,” said Mr Burke.

Police believe Scaife delivered that blow with an empty vodka bottle, which he had put aside to use as a weapon but the bottle broke.

Despite that, in the minutes that followed, Scaife continued using the broken bottle as a weapon, repeatedly striking the man, causing wounds to his forehead, the top of his head, the back of his neck, his left ear, and his arm.

Most of those wounds needed stitches. He was yelling at the victim, saying he would kill him.

“[The victim] said he wasn’t sure if he would ever leave that flat alive,” continued Mr Burke. At one point, the man pleaded with Scaife to stop the attack.

The violence ended only after a woman who heard the commotion went into the flat and dragged the victim away as Scaife continued to yell at the man. “She wrongly thought that he’d been stabbed because of the amount of blood,” said Mr Burke.

Tariq Khawam, defending, said that Scaife, who had no previous convictions, acted because of the man’s previous conviction for assaulting a woman. The defendant also felt that the victim had “abused his trust,” though that could not justify the violence.

Judge Nicholas Barker said the offence was "troubling."

He told the defendant: “This was undoubtedly a premeditated attack. You had antagonism towards him because of whatever perception you had as to his behaviour towards a female. In your interview, you said he had been smacking and beating her up and it had been going on for a while.

“You were also angry because he had been taking or requesting cigarettes and other items off you and not paying for them.”

Scaife had attacked the man almost immediately, breaking the bottle by using it to hit the man on the forehead, though the defendant said he initially punched the victim.

He caused several injuries as he continued to wield the broken bottle – injuries which taken together could properly be described as grave. “There was significant blood loss,” said the judge.

Judge Barker added that the underlying motive appeared to be a desire for revenge. He jailed Scaife for four years and four months.

After the case, Detective Constable Rob Dixon said: “This was a violent attack which left the victim fearing for his life with serious injuries.

“Scaife was candid in admitting to officers what he did. However, he was not remorseful, telling police that the victim had deserved it. Such violent attacks involving a weapon always have the potential to result in tragedy and are always taken extremely seriously by the police and courts.”