A MAN walking home from work was left “covered in blood” after his attacker mistook him for someone who “burgled his house”.

On January 5 last year, Tony Lawrence was walking home from work, and “noticed a shadow behind him” as he passed the methodist church on Shaftesbury Street in Newport.

He continued walking past McDonald’s and onto Albany Street, where he then saw someone following him, Regan Bray.

“He was grabbed by his shoulder and pulled to the ground,” said prosecutor Alex Greenwood.

“He was punched three or four times to the face by the defendant.”

A member of the public witnessed the incident from her window, and rushed out shouting for someone to “stop that man”.

She stayed and applied first aid to Mr Lawrence, who was “covered in blood coming from his mouth and nose”.  

Two men working nearby chased Bray down and apprehended him, bringing him back to the scene until the police arrived and arrested him.

The officers noticed Bray had blood on both of his knuckles.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Lawrence said the attack had left him “very jumpy at the slightest sound” and “always looking over his shoulder”.

He said the attack left him cautious about venturing out, and that he still struggles to go out after dark and had not returned to the area of the assault.

Bray, 21, of Somerton Park in Newport, has three previous convictions for six offences – two of which involved assaulting emergency workers, both of which saw Bray spitting at them.

“The incident came about because of the defendant’s psychosis,” said Claire Wilks, in mitigation. “He believed, quite wrongly, that the victim was a gentleman who had burgled his house.”

Ms Wilks said Bray spent two months last summer in a psychiatric unit under the Mental Health Act.

“Since then he has co-operated with the community mental health team,” she said.

“His mental health is far more stable than it was.”

The defendant admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Addressing Bray, Recorder Duncan Bould said: “You took him to the ground and you rained punches on him, causing injuries which bled.

“Mr Lawrence’s physical injuries healed and were not the most serious, but the psychological effect of your attack cannot be underestimated.”

Bray was sentenced to a two-year community order, which included a 12-month mental health treatment requirement. He must also complete 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement.

Recorder Bould commended the three members of the public who were involved in apprehending Bray, and awarded them each £500 for their “public spirited behaviour”.