Man ‘lucky not to die’ in noisy neighbour row

Saturday 20th March 2010, 3:00PM GMT.

The Royal Court building

A MAN who punched his 61-year-old victim to the ground and kicked him up to ten times in a row about noisy neighbours was jailed for 4½ years yesterday.

The Superior Number of the Royal Court heard that William Dubois was lucky not to have killed the man in the attack.

The 38-year-old defendant escaped an even higher sentence after writing a 16-page letter to the court detailing his traumatic childhood, which included time at Haut de la Garenne.

Commissioner Philip Bailhache told Dubois that he would not increase the sentence because of the ‘eloquent’ letter. But he added: ‘At the end of the day, Dubois was convicted of a crime which could have led to much graver consequences for the victim.’

• Full report in Saturday’s Jersey Evening Post

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.