Jailed: Telford man, 25, attacked former schoolfriend with golf club and wrench

Daniel Langford put a knife to Andrew Smith's throat before demanding he go outside and fight him at the house party in Telford – before hitting him round the head with a golf club and punching, kicking and stamping on him repeatedly.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard the attack continued after Smith went back inside the house to lie down, with Langford hitting him with a wrench.

Mr Smith suffered bruising to the brain, a broken rib and multiple cuts and bruises to his body in the attack, which happened on December 31 last year. He spent four days in hospital and told police he had "no idea" why Langford, who he went to school with, had attacked him.

Langford, of Beaconsfield, Brookside, had admitted causing Mr Smith grievous bodily harm at a previous court hearing and appeared at Shrewsbury to be sentenced.

The 25-year-old also pleaded guilty to two other assaults occasioning actual bodily harm.

Mr Richard McConaghy, prosecuting, said Langford broke the nose of Aaron Green with a single punch after the victim tried to intervene in a dispute between Langford and another man at The Odfellows wine bar in Shifnal on September 25, 2014.

The prosecutor told the court that three months later, in December 2014, Langford, wearing just his underpants, launched a sustained assault on Damian Fellows after accusing the victim of not paying the electricity bill in the house they shared at the time.

Fellows suffered a broken tooth, cuts to the head, a swollen lip and tenderness to the jaw following the attack, Mr McConaghy said.

Mrs Debra White, for Langford, said: "He takes full responsibility for his actions in relation to all three matters.

"He acknowledges his behaviour was unacceptable.

"Mr Langford really does want to put his offending behaviour behind him.

"There is little I can say about these offences.

"He had been accepted by the RAF and he was due to take that place when he was sentenced to imprisonment as an 18-year-old.

"When released he really lost his way. That is the background to this man.

"Alcohol and drugs are clearly the catalyst for the commission of these offences.

"He acknowledges he should have sought help rather than self destructing, as he puts it."

Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Langford to a total of three years and nine months in prison.

He told him he was "obviously an intelligent young man" but added: "You have a long history of threatening violent behaviour. I have a real concern about your temper.

"You are prone to outbursts of serious violence with minimum provocation.

"You pose a large risk of harm to other people. You need to get a grip."