A MOTORIST who broke a man's eye socket in a road rage incident has been spared a jail term after a court heard his personality has been affected by a brain injury suffered in a motorbike accident.

Richard Thomas Griffiths followed John Woolley to his Buckley home and launched a sustained attack on his victim, whose eye injury was so severe that he required repair surgery at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

Mold Crown Court was told Mr Woolley’s vision was affected for a time after the attack and he also now suffers from headaches, his tinnitus had worsened and he had pins and needles in his elbow because of nerve damage as well as suffering from psychological trauma.

But Judge Niclas Parry was swayed by a report by one of the country’s leading neuro-psychiatrists that the head injuries that Griffiths sustained in a motorcycle crash in 2016 played a part in his behaviour on the night of December 6.

Suspending Griffiths’ 10-month prison sentence for a year, Judge Parry told him: “You carried out a sustained and repeatedly violent assault which resulted in serious injuries.

"It is nothing other than an incident of road rage.

"You felt slighted by the manner of Mr Woolley’s driving and you followed him to his home and attacked him.

“But 17 months before the incident you were involved in a serious road accident which left you with a serous brain injury, you lost the ability to speak and walk. Your character was transformed.

“Following extensive treatment you have rebuilt your life.

"The consequences of this collision was you suffered from mood changes and that was a significant contributory factor.

“Your issues continue to be addressed but you have a long way to go. If I sent you to custody it would disrupt the effects of your rehabilitation.”

Prosecutor David Mainstone said Griffiths became infuriated after he pulled his silver BMW out in front of Mr Woolley’s car on the A55 near the Dobshill roundabout.

When Mr Woolley responded by sounding his horn an angry Griffiths tried to get him to pull over, but then pursued him to his home, blocking his car from getting into the driveway.

There he accused his bespectacled victim of trying to run him off the road as he grabbed him and delivered a punch to his eye.

He called him a “fat bastard” and then punched him several times before pushing Mr Woolley to the ground where he rained down blows on him before the stricken motorist managed to fend him off and a neighbour intervened.

“Mr Woolley had been seriously ill the year before and did not have the strength to fight him [Griffiths] off,” said Mr Mainstone.

“He tried to get up but his head was spinning.”

Mr Woolley read out a victim impact statement in which he said he had feared for his life and told of how he suffered from flashbacks and required counselling.

He also detailed how the assault forced him off work for more than a month with the loss of £1,500 in wages.

He said: “I’ve never been so scared in my life. The odd manner in which he behaved...he pushed my jacket into my throat and I was struggling to breathe during the attack,” he said.

“I can’t think about the attack without wondering what would have happened if my neighbour had not come out to help me. Would I have died?”

Griffiths, 29, of Penymynydd Road, Penyffordd near Mold, admitted unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on December 6.

Griffiths initially claimed he acted in self-defence, but CCTV footage showed he had launched the attack.

Defence barrister Simon Blakeborough said a report from a consultant neuro-psychiatrist concluded that although Griffiths’ culpability was not removed by his brain injury, its consequences were “somewhat to blame for what happened on the night”.

“This behaviour is significantly out of character. He [Griffiths] has a good education and employment record, working at Airbus before his head injury.

“He has been working on a voluntary basis to help people who have suffered head injuries like he has.”

Griffiths was ordered to pay £2,000 compensation and the judge imposed an indefinite restraining order.