A JEALOUS thug rained down blows on the man he’d earlier accused of talking to his “baby mother”.

Joshua James struck his victim with such force that he broke his own fingers in the attack.

The 24-year-old had denied intending to cause grievous bodily harm to his 27-year-old victim in Trowbridge town centre last September.

But on Friday a jury at Swindon Crown Court convicted him of the charge by a majority of 10 to 2.

Remanding the Trowbridge dad into custody, Judge Peter Crabtree warned him: “You’ve been convicted by the jury of a serious offence. It will be a lengthy custody sentence.”

James might never have found himself in the dock, with jurors told during the five-day trial that there had been multiple opportunities for him to walk away – as well as “bizarre coincidences” that placed the thug and his victim in the same place at the same time.

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Swindon Crown Court, where the trial was heard

‘You ain’t chatting to my baby mum’  

Joseph Beaney had been watching his friends play football in Hilperton on Saturday, September 26.

At 4.37pm he received a notification on his phone. He’d received a direct message from a stranger – Joshua James – accusing him of something he hadn’t done.

“You ain’t chatting to my baby mum,” the message read. The “baby mum” was James’ ex-partner, with whom he had a child. The former couple were no longer together nor, jurors heard, were they still friends.

Jealous James had seen that his ex “liked” a post shared by Mr Beaney and had leapt to conclusions.

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Mr Beaney did not know the woman or the defendant and, concerned, replied to James’ message asking for his number. He called him and explained that he didn’t know her.

Mr Beaney told the jury there had been some difficulties in James hearing him, but he’d ended the call believing he’d cleared matters up.

He went home after the game, got changed and headed out to Trowbridge town centre where he enjoyed a few drinks with friends.

James, meanwhile, spent the afternoon in Bath – drinking at a cocktail bar then watching the football with a friend. He’d flirted with a girl, Amy Connor, who had come with one of his friends. The group drove back to Trowbridge for dinner.

The Trowbridge Sports Bar

Chance found the two men in Trowbridge Sports Bar at the same time later that evening.

James and his friends arrived at the Castle Street bar at around 9pm in search of food. They were told by bar staff that they’d stopped serving food and so hatched a plan to go to Nando’s.

Mr Beaney happened to be at the Trowbridge Sports Bar at the same time. He’d got there at around 8pm and later, as he was outside having a cigarette, spotted James at the bar. He recognised him from a picture he’d seen on Instagram.

He told the jury he stopped drinking at 9.30pm – half an hour before the 10pm lockdown curfew – and later left the bar.

He got into a Mini driven by Amy Connor – the same woman who James had earlier flirted with – who dropped him off in the Castle Street car park. He bought a chicken wrap from a nearby kebab shop then went back to the car.

The wave

James drank a beer with his Nando’s meal and left the restaurant at around 9.40pm. He and his friends went next door to the Valeroso Lounge bar. They had another drink and met up with a girl, Maggie Humphey May, with whom James flirted. He told the jury she’d agreed to go back to his home, although she gave an alternative account to jurors.

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Nandos, Trowbridge Picture: GOOGLE

Another friend drove James and Ms May up Castle Street. Ms May asked the driver to stop the car so she could speak to her friend.

As they chatted on Castle Street, James spotted a familiar face behind the wheel of a Mini; Ms Connor.

She waved at him, he said, and he took it as an invitation to go over and speak to her.

James walked over to the passenger side with the intention of getting into the car, he told jurors.

The brutal attack could have been avoided 

According to James’ account, Mr Beaney got out the car. A six-footer, he was described by the defendant as a “big character”. James claimed the other man asked him “what the f*** do you want?” then “why the f*** are you messaging me for?”

Mr Beaney was said to have placed his food back in the car and James, fearing he was freeing up his hands or reaching for a weapon, knocked him to the floor.

CCTV footage captured James raining down blows on his victim, who made some efforts to grapple at his opponent’s legs. Witnesses suggested it could have been as many as 20 punches and it was claimed James had stamped on Mr Beaney, although he denied it. Another man, Adam Hale, was alleged to have aimed kicks at the prone victim. He had not been charged.

Witness Ellie Plank, who was around 10m away, told the jury she’d heard James say “don’t f*** with my baby mum” after the brutal beating. Cross-examined by James’ barrister, she denied making up the comment from rumours circulating on social media and messaging apps in the wake of the incident.

Mr Beaney told the jury he remembered opening his car door, but had no recollection of what happened next.

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Castle Street, where the assault took place Picture: GOOGLE

The aftermath

The victim was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath by Ms Connor, where it was found he’d fractured his eye socket in the assault.

Suspicion quickly fell on James. He arranged to come in for interview on September 30. On September 28 he went to hospital, checking in under a false name, for treatment after he broke two fingers in the attack.

He answered no comment to questions but to him in interview on the advice of his solicitor but pleaded guilty to simple wounding last October. He told jurors he had initially acted in self-defence. He was ashamed of himself, he said.

‘Arrogant’

Closing the case for the prosecution on Thursday, David Maunder said it was ludicrous to suggest it was coincidence the defendant had run into the victim - and described the defendant as arrogant.

He accused James of strutting like a boxer in the wake of the attack with a “celebratory punch in the air after beating Joe’s face to a pulp”.

“That’s tell-tale,” Mr Maunder told the jury.

“Ask [yourself] am I looking at a man who says he was shell-shocked and was thinking to himself what just happened?

“Well, you have a look at him.

“You may think that’s absolutely ridiculous and more importantly from any view absolutely false. What’s just happened is that this defendant had planned and carried out a really violent attack on Mr Beaney intending to do him really serious harm.”

Lucy Tapper, defending, said her client was “rightly ashamed and sorry” for the injuries he’d inflicted. But she said James did not intend to cause really serious harm. The barrister added that there were such things as “bizarre coincidences”.

She accused the prosecution of carrying out a character assassination on her client and asked the jury to consider inconsistences in the accounts of the Crown’s witnesses – including what was said and how the attack unfolded.

Jurors heard that one of the witnesses, Ellie Plank, had shared a police press release about the case on social media last year with the comment “don’t drop the soap”.

Verdicts

The 12-strong jury took almost four hours to reach their majority verdict of guilty. James did not flinch as the verdict was read out.

Mr Maunder told the court after the verdicts were given that James, of Green Close, Holt, had three convictions for four offences, including assaults on his former partner and a doorman. 

Judge Peter Crabtree remanded James into custody. He will be sentenced next month on a date to be fixed.