A JEALOUS boyfriend who broke into another man’s flat and attacked him with a claw hammer has been jailed for six years.

Daniel O’Brien admitted launching the “relentless, persistent and brutal” attack on his girlfriend’s neighbour in the early hours of May 8 this year.

O’Brien, 31, appeared before Bradford Crown Court yesterday where the court was told that he found Facebook messages between his girlfriend and another man.

O’Brien drove to Alex Leach’s flat in Wyke to “get information out of him” after realising the man messaging his partner was a friend of Mr Leach.

But, prosecutor Philip Adams told the court that O’Brien, of Hird Road, Low Moor, instead broke down the door and set upon a sleeping Mr Leach with a claw hammer.

He described how the pair tussled and Mr Leach was struck a number of times, first on the back, then chest, and somehow managed to block what could have been a serious blow to the head.

Mr Leach only escaped the onslaught by managing to push O’Brien back through the open door of his flat and lock it behind him.

Mr Adams said that O’Brien, who had only been wearing a pair of shorts at the time, had fastened a piece of rope to the end of the hammer and tied it around his own wrist.

He added that immediately after the attack O’Brien had called the emergency services to request an ambulance for Mr Leach and to hand himself in to police.

A victim impact statement read out to the court saw Mr Leach describe how he had sustained bruises and soreness, but had since been struggling to sleep due to anxiety and that his performance at work was affected, leaving him currently on a final warning and at risk of losing his job.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the outcome of the attack could have been much worse if the victim had not been able to defend himself in the way that he did. He sentenced O’Brien to six years in prison for aggravated burglary.

He added: “Your victim, Mr Leach, had nothing to do with whatever problem or concern you had with your girlfriend. The only connection he did have is that he may know the man you suspected of having a relationship with your girlfriend.

“When you left to go to Mr Leach’s home you went with violence in mind, this was not something that happened on the spur of the moment.

“You had armed yourself with a hammer and a claw hammer at that - it could have caused serious injury or death.”

Ash Khullar, for O’Brien, said that he was genuinely remorseful and that Mr Leach didn’t deserve what had happened and that he had tried to apologise to him directly.

Mr Khullar said the defendant was seeking help for his addiction to cocaine through The Bridge Project, but was currently still using the drug.

“He knows he’s made the worst mistake of his life,” he added.