- A man has been sentenced after he smacked his lover’s husband with a bat
- Graham James, 60, admitted to attacking Brad Berrell in his Newcastle home
- James concocted the plan to wear a clown mask with Mr Berrell’s wife Gail
- Gail Berrell lied and told James she was a victim of domestic violence
A man has been sentenced after he burst into his new lover’s home wearing a clown mask and smacked her husband in the head with a baseball bat.
Graham James, 60, attacked Brad Berrell in his Windale, Newcastle home in a planned assault concocted by James and Berrell’s wife Gail.
James appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to three offences, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
James’ solicitor Mark Ramsland told the court he ‘is no Pennywise’ referring to the main character in Stephen King’s novel It (pictured)
Dressed in black, wearing a clown mask and brandishing a baseball bat, James entered the house through the backdoor (stock image)
His solicitor Mark Ramsland told the court he ‘is no Pennywise’ referring to the main character in Stephen King’s novel It.
James and Gail Berrell were in a relationship for three months before the attack in October.
Gail Berrell told James she was the victim of domestic violence, and the couple planned for James to come to the house she still shared with her husband to ‘teach him a lesson’.
Dressed in black, wearing a clown mask and brandishing a baseball bat, James entered the house through the backdoor.
He was spotted by Mr Berrell who yelled: ‘Who are you? Get the f*** out of my house.’
James then struck Mr Berrell in the head and left arm with the bat, before he was pushed to the ground and his mask fell off.
James called for Gail Berrell to help him, ending their charade that the attack was random.
James and Gail Berrell were given suspended sentences at Newcastle Local Court
Mr Ramsland said factors including James’ severe Asperger syndrome and cognitive delays meant a custodial sentence was inappropriate.
‘He was very vulnerable to suggestion. He actually believed the co-accused was suffering from domestic violence.’
James was given an 18-month suspended sentence, and Gail Berrell was given a 10-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to contributing to her husband’s assault.