A MAN was jailed for two years after getting thugs to spray pepper in his neighbour’s face after a dispute over a car.
Graham Harvey Brook, of Eastlands, Almondbury, appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday after the attack on his neighbour Daniel Peter Nelson.
Mr Nelson’s three-year-old son Mason Nelson was also hurt in the pepper sprayŠattack on July 15, this year.
Brook was found guilty after a trial of possessing a prohibited weapon under the Firearms Act, possessing pepper spray with intent to cause Mr Nelson fear of violence, and assault on bothŠMr NelsonŠand hisŠson.
Judge Recorder B Nolan QC told Brook: “You had a dispute with your neighbour Daniel Nelson – it was something to do with an alleged incident involving a car.
“Plainly that dispute troubled you and you decided on the day in question, or some time before, to make your point against Mr Nelson by frightening him.”
The judge said Brook –Šwho has lived at the same address for 17 years –Šhad knocked onŠhis neighbour’sŠdoorŠwith two men wearing balaclavas.
ŠHe said: “You made a comment to the effect that Mr Nelson was going to get it. And then the two men wearing balaclavas used tear gas which was sprayed directly into his face.”
Mr Nelson was left choking and was temporarily blinded and the gas entered the room where his son was.
The judge said: “This was clearly pre-meditated, you obviously recruited these two men, and it must have been very frightening.”
The court heard how Brook, who walks with a crutch, is disabled after suffering from a stroke in 1994.
The judge said: “That has very much taken away much of your power and I’ve very much in mind that for you prison will be a very hard experience – but to prison you must go.”
Brook was given a two-year prison sentence to run concurrently.Š
