A MAN left his victim needing a metal plate in his skull after striking him repeatedly over the head with a baseball bat.
A court heard how Lewis Kerby had collected the weapon from his car after a fight broke out between his friend and another man at the Robin Hood pub in Sholing.
The two men had a disagreement and after coming outside, they began circling each other and fighting.
Seeing his friend was in trouble, Kerby, 27, of Ford Road, Bursledon went to his car and returned holding a baseball bat.
Prosecuting, Roderick Blain said he originally struck his victim in the shoulder before hitting him again, causing him to fall to the ground.
Witnesses explained how he then continued swinging the bat, with one person saying they saw him hitting another man in the head whilst he was on the ground.
The court was also told how he hit his victim so hard that the bat snapped in two.
Police attended the scene and the man was later taken to Southampton General Hospital with a fractured skull.
He was released after two days but returned to hospital one day later due to discharge from the wound.
He required blood clots to be removed from the fracture area which was secured using metal plates and screws.
Mr Blain told the court how the man felt “like he was going to die” and “had a feeling that he wouldn’t see his girls or his family again”.
He added that a “feeling of anxiousness came over him” and that Kerby’s actions “went way beyond what could be justified”.
But mitigating, Khalid Missouri said that Kerby is “still a young man” and “has not been in trouble for seven years now”.
“He wasn’t out for violence that night. He genuinely thought his friend was in danger.”
He accepted that Kerby had struck his victim four or five times with the bat and said he has been working every day since the incident despite the prospect of being jailed.
READ MORE: 'Huge' fight outside Robin Hood pub leaves man in hospital
Kerby, who works in boat maintenance, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon, though Mr Missouri said the bat was not in the car with the aim of using it for violence.
But Judge, Nicholas Rowland, described his actions as “completely over the top self-defence”.
He added, however, that there is “much mitigation” in this case.
Kerby was jailed for a total of 32 months for the attack which took place on August 19 this year.
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