A MAN who was living in his ex-girlfriend’s garden shed when he battered a purported love rival with a hammer has been jailed.

Ricky Davies, from Latchford, launched a frenzied attack on his victim four days after splitting up with his partner.

On Thursday, January 10, the 34-year-old was jailed for nearly two years at Liverpool Crown Court.

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The court heard that the victim and a friend picked up two women from outside a nightclub in the early hours of Saturday, November 17, before driving back to one of the females’ homes

Later, he answered a knock at the door from Davies - who ‘immediately grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him outside’.

Four days earlier, he had split up with the homeowner but was still living in her garden shed as he believed there was still an ‘opportunity to rekindle the relationship’.

Davies hit his victim with a claw hammer on the left side of his head before raining blows down ‘all over his body’ after falling to the floor.

Having managed to regain his footing, the man was then struck again to the back of his head and lost conciousness.

He was rushed to hospital by an ambulance having suffered injuries including a large cut to the back of his head, a laceration to the bridge of his nose and a large lump on his forehead.

Police located Davies at another ex-girlfriend’s house, at which point he was arrested.

The defendant, who has six previous convictions for 11 offences, admitted unlawful wounding and possession of an offensive weapon during an earlier court hearing in December.

Appearing in court via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 22 months by judge Neil Flewitt.

Sentencing, judge Flewit said: “You perhaps got the wrong idea about what was happening, and you took it out on him.

“If you strike someone to the head with a claw hammer, you run a real risk of doing them serious and permanent damage.

“The fact that you didn’t is a matter of good fortune.

“I accept that you were having difficulties coming to terms with the breakup of your relationship.

“That’s little comfort to your victim, who was an innocent participant in these proceedings.

“This attack, which involved a weapon, was so severe and sustained that it must be marked by a sentence of immediate imprisonment.”

Davies will serve half of this sentence before being released on license, and was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.