A VIOLENT thug has been jailed for a year for smashing a motorcyclist over the head several times with a wooden bat after a neighbourly dispute got out of hand.

Alex Eiffert, 30, stopped the woman in Rawlings Crescent, Colchester, after she told police she had witnessed a domestic incident between him and his partner.

He then hit her several times to the head with the weapon in an attack caught on CCTV.

Fortunately, she escaped with bruising because her head was protected with a crash helmet.

The attack happened in August last year, but Eiffert bumped into the attack victim and her son at Tesco in January and told them “if you turn up at court you will get your comeuppance”.

Eiffert was due to stand trial at Ipswich Crown Court but admitted witness intimidation and a public order offence.

He had previously admitted aggravated bodily harm, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing.

Raj Joshi, prosecuting, said: “The injuries were only not as serious because the complainant was wearing a crash helmet.

“It could have been a lot worse.”

Catherine Bradshaw, mitigating, said: “There is a back story between the two parties.

“They have made unfounded complaints to social services about him and his partner, while he has reported them to the police.”

Eiffert, who splits his time between Chatham, Kent, where his son lives and at his partner’s home in Rawlings Crescent has a string of convictions for violence.

Passing sentence, Judge Rupert Overbury said: “If you keep committing this sort of offence, the sentences will just get longer and longer.

“You will miss your son growing up and miss out on your relationship.

“This is a neighbourly dispute which has got way out of control.”

Eiffert, who has been in custody since January, was told he would likely serve half his sentence with an extended one-year licence.

During the time there will be a restraining order preventing him from contacting either of the victims.