by Keith Hunt

A thug beat up a love rival and caused him serious injuries after finding him in bed with his ex-girlfriend, a court heard.

Helped by a friend, Adam Brown punched and dragged Carl Grainger out of the bedroom and left him with a partially collapsed lung.

Brown, of Montford Road, Strood, was jailed for two years after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm.

A judge told the 23-year-old scaffolder he had a "complete unwillingness to exercise self-control".

He added: "You seem to think you can behave in a violent way and it is about time you realised that to act as you did is to risk causing extremely serious injury or death."

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim and Brown’s former girlfriend Clair Welch were having an intimate relationship.

She was to dub him her "booty call", a reference to casual sex.

Martin Yale, prosecuting, said the couple had been out for the evening with others in Gillingham on April 24 last year and then went back to her home.

They went to bed and early the next morning Brown arrived with the other unidentified man.

Miss Welch told Mr Grainger to get up in case anything happened.

Mr Grainger was getting dressed when he heard a voice say: "S-------- my baby’s mum, are you?"

He was then struck on the head.

Mr Grainger fell from the bed and hit his head and shoulder on a wardrobe. He was struck again before being pulled out of the room.

The assault continued as he was thrown out of the front door.

He started to run as he heard Brown say: "I am going to ------- kill you."

"When he got home he could barely walk," said the prosecutor. "His sister called an ambulance. He was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital.

"He had extensive bruising and swelling to his scalp, bruising to his shoulder and back. An X-Ray showed he had a partially collapsed lung."

Mr Yale said Brown had previous convictions for assaulting Miss Welch and a racially aggravated assault.

Miss Welch was said to be back with Brown and due to give birth to their second child.