'Scurrilous' neighbour tried to claim racist provocation led to vicious Morley assault with garden tool
A neighbour who repeatedly attacked a man with a garden tool during a long-running feud was labelled “scurrilous” by a judge after attempting to claim the victim had been racist.
The man was left with a fractured skull and bleed to the brain after the sustained attack by Tendai Dlamini during the dispute on a Morley street.
Dlamini was convicted after a trial at Leeds Crown Court of causing GBH with intent and was jailed this week.
But Judge Richard Mansell KC rejected any notion put forward by the 43-year-old’s counsel that he had been provoked by racist taunts.
Judge Mansell said: “It was a scurrilous accusation and the jury saw through it. There was no provocation that justified what the defendant did.”
The court heard that the neighbours on Ingle Avenue had been friends but had fallen out after a disagreement between Dlamini’s partner and the victim’s partner, which “plainly soured their friendship”.
On July 15, 2020, the victim had been washing his car and words were exchanged when Dlamini arrived back from a shopping trip.
Angry, he went inside his flat and grabbed a four-foot-long garden tool with a sharp metallic end and attacked the man.
Striking him to the head, the victim went down with Dlamini continuing to hit him.
The man suffered a double fracture to his skull, the bleed to his brain and required surgery.
More than four years later, the man still has a long scar on his head, struggles to sleep and still feels unsafe in his home.
Dlamini, now of Brunswick Street, Wakefield, has previous convictions for assaults, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to defraud.
Jailing him for five years, Judge Mansell said: “It was clearly a premeditated attack.
“I have little doubt you armed yourself with a weapon because although he was older than you and was well built, he was previously a professional boxer.
“I reject your claim that he racially abused you.
“He has experienced significant ongoing effects.”
He said that despite the case taking more than four years to reach court, Dlamini “only had himself to blame” for persistently denying the crime.
He handed Dlamini a life-long restraining order to keep him away from the victim.