A HAMMER-wielding heroin addict has been jailed for two years after launching a premeditated attack on another man on the street.

Warren Hugh, 25, bullied his mother’s partner into driving him to Portswood High Street in Southampton, in the early hours when he arranged to meet Paul Ford, who was with a friend, Derek Turner.

Prosecutor Rachel Robertson told the city crown court that Hugh floored Mr Turner with a punch, before attacking the other man, striking him with the hammer and repeatedly punching him. He was lying on the ground when the police arrived on the scene, and was taken to Southampton General Hospital, where he was treated for a cut forehead as well as abrasions and bruising. He also suffered a loosened tooth.

Guilty plea Hugh, of Brookside Way, Swaythling, admitted causing actual bodily harm. He had pleaded guilty to common assault and possessing an offensive weapon.

Passing sentence, Judge Gary Burrell QC said: “You specifically attacked him because he owed you money. “His face was covered in blood and it was a mercy that he has not sustained more serious injuries to his head or to his brain.”

Nicholas Rowland, defending, said Hugh had a longstanding drug habit. He said: “The attack was over in seconds. “It was sustained but the injuries were not serious. “It is accepted he took the hammer in premeditation.”

The court heard Hugh, who has already served the equivalent of a 12 month sentence on remand, had previously been convicted for assault and robbery.