A man who flew into “a red rage” and bludgeoned his neighbour with a spade has been jailed for three years and four months.

Paul Ward, 52, attacked grandmother Debbie Bland after a bitter dispute between them, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

He wielded the spade with both hands, raining forceful blows on Mrs Bland as she lay in the garden at flats they shared in Meadowcroft, Cononley, near Skipton.

Her right index finger was almost severed and her right arm and left knuckle were fractured. She suffered multiple lacerations, some as she fended off the blows, and extensive bruising.

Mrs Bland, 52, needed a blood transfusion and spent several days in Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Ward pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on Saturday, April 10.

Prosecutor Tom Storey said Mrs Bland, who lived in the flat below Ward, was hanging out her washing. She was walking with a crutch after a knee operation when he swung the spade at her.

Her screams alerted a neighbour who saw Ward hit her up to five times as she lay on her back. He thought Ward was going to kill her.

“At least at times the edge of the spade was used as well as the flat part,” Mr Storey said.

Mrs Bland moved to her flat about a year earlier. She and Ward, a longer-standing tenant, fell out. She accused him of being noisy and was keeping a diary of complaints for the housing-association landlord.

In December last year Mrs Bland was arrested after trouble between them but no further action was taken.

On the morning of the attack Ward had received another letter from the housing association. He told Mrs Bland: “This is you, this is you,” the court heard.

He grabbed the spade, saying: “You asked for this.”

The court heard Mrs Bland had since suffered nightmares and no longer felt safe in her home.

Ward told police he flew into “a red rage” because Mrs Bland had been winding him up all year. The court heard he assaulted a police officer at Skipton Police Station in 1997. In 2008 he was convicted of threatening behaviour at Skipton’s Fisher Medical Centre.

Ward’s barrister, Robin Frieze, said 77 villagers had signed a petition in support of him. “Mrs Bland had it in for him – they had this very attritional relationship,” Mr Frieze said.

The judge, Recorder Ray Singh, said Ward had shown no remorse but he was immediately frank with the police and the petition weighed in his favour.

After the case, Mrs Bland criticised the sentence as far too lenient.

Detective Inspector Pete Martin, of Skipton CID, said: “This was a vicious assault. I am satisfied that Ward is now behind bars where he belongs.”