A man who fractured a woman’s kneecap with a bat in a “wholly unprovoked attack” has been given an 18 month sentence at Belfast Crown Court.

James Stock, 39, from McMaster Street, was told he will spend a similar period on supervised licence on his release from custody.

Stock pleaded guilty on the first day of her trial on Friday to a charge of unlawfully and maliciously wounding his victim.

Sentencing, Judge Patricia Smyth said: “This was a sudden, wholly unprovoked assault without any motive.”

A prosecutor told the court that the victim was at her partner’s home in Templemore Avenue in east Belfast at around 20:00 on 2 March 2021 “when they heard banging on the front door and downstairs window and went to see what was happening”.

She said the victim opened the door and “saw two men, one of whom she recognised as being the defendant”.

“He came towards her and he pulled out what she described as a flick bat or baton and brought the weapon down hard on her left knee, causing her to fall to the ground” added the prosecution barrister.”

Both men then fled the scene, the court was told, while the victim was taken to hospital where it was discovered that her kneecap had been broken by the baton.

The prosecutor added: “She required open knee surgery and remained in hospital for four days. She told me that the pain at the time of the assault was ‘excruciating’.”

Stock was arrested at his home where police recovered the baton, the court was told.

He denied being at the house where the attack took place during police interviews.

In a victim statement to the court, the woman stated the attack has had a “life-changing impact on both her and her family…I am in constant pain and my mobility is restricted.

“I suffer from anxiety when I hear a knock on the door, particularly at night or when I hear noises from the street outside”.

The court was told that Stock has 23 previous convictions which included one serious assault and a common assault.

A defence barrister said that at the time of the offence Stock was “in the midst of a chronic drug addiction” and that his life was “in a state of chaos”.

He was now taking steps to address his mental health and addiction issues, she said. The barrister also spoke of his remorse over the “one-strike” incident.

Since the assault to which he pleaded guilty on Friday, Stock has continued to offend, the court heard, and is currently the subject of a one month suspended sentence for possessing an article with a blade or point.