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Thug who beat up love rival jailed for over six years

A thug who battered a teenager in a row over a girl has been jailed for six and half years.

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Mathew Brant and Bradley Bridgwood were both sent to jail

Mathew Brant left his victim with a fractured eye socket when he went to the teenager’s home with two friends.

The teen thought he was going to die in the beating, a judge heard.

Brant and the victim, then aged 17, had swapped insults via phone messages.

Brant, now aged 21, was going out with a girl who had previously been dated by his love rival and announced that he was going to ‘teach him a lesson,’ Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

He and two friends were kicking a football in Stickley Lane, Lower Gornal, when they decided to go to the home of the victim and found him outside.

Brant got him in a headlock while kneeing him in the face five or six times, said Ms Raj Punia, prosecuting, adding: “He threw him on the ground and repeatedly punched him before kicking him in the face and head.”

His friend Bradley Bridgwood delivered a kick during which the victim momentarily lost consciousness but came round as the pair were leaving and Brant returned to kick him once more, concluded Ms Punia.

The victim suffered a fractured eye socket among other injuries which affected his work.

He later told police: “I genuinely thought I was going to die.”

The pair left in a car driven by Matthew Ray, now 19, who drove them there but took no part in the August 18 2016 attack.

Brant, from Lindsay Place, Brierley Hill, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent while Bridgwood and Ray pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Bridgwood, 22, of Wrens Nest Road, Dudley, who also admitted assault and intimidating a witness in an unrelated case, was locked up for two years three months.

Ray, from The Broadway, also Dudley, got one year, suspended for two years with 150 hours of unpaid work and £750 compensation for the victim.

Judge Nicholas Webb said: "All three of you were involved in distinct and separate ways in a violent event which led ultimately to serious injuries being suffered.

"Brant had previously exchanged aggressive and confrontational messages with the victim. You probably provoked each other but the victim got more than he bargained for."

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