"Tasteless" text message drove Doncaster man to beat up pal in bedroom

Thomas Pilling warned the victim's mother she had five seconds to let him in before he forced his way past her and into the house on Windhill Crescent, Mexborough, at 7.30pm, on August 20, 2018, said prosecutor Joe Culley.

He began searching the upper floor, shouting "Where is he? I am going to kill him," and smashed four holes into a door which the man was wedged behind as he hid in a bedroom.

When Pilling got into the bedroom he began punching him with both fists "over and over again - so many times he lost count," Mr Culley said.

"He was pulling his fists right back to maximise force," he said. "He kicked him in the ribs."

His victim noticed that Pilling produced a knuckleduster, but he put it back into his pocket.

An associate, who accompanied Pilling to the house, told him police were coming and they left.

His victim said he "felt like a train had hit him," and he sustained injuries to his nose, swelling and scratches. His mum was left with bruising when the front door banged her arm.

The court heard Pilling had threatened his victim’s family on Facebook. He was arrested on November 7, 2018.

Ed Moss, mitigating, said Pilling, a self-employed gardener of previous good character, was sent “a rather tasteless message” containing “sexual references” to someone known to him.

"He accepts his behaviour afterwards was truly unacceptable and he is ashamed,” he said. “He acted on impulse and he truly regrets what happened that day.

“He has suffered with anxiety and depression as a result. He has clearly shown this is a one-off.

"He has kept his nose clean for the past two and a half years. He thinks it is time for this matter to finally come to a close.”

Pilling, 23, of Clayfield Avenue, Mexborough, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage, and possession of an offensive weapon, after initially denying the offences.

Judge Graham Reeds QC sentenced Pilling to 28 weeks in prison. A two-year restraining order, not to go to, or stand outside, the complainants' address, was imposed.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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