A YOUNG man whose life fell apart after his ‘dad’ was decapitated in a work accident has avoided being jailed for a “cowardly” assault.

Liam John Pritchard Watts, 18, joined another thug in punching, kneeing and stamping on Ben Furnivel in Frodsham.

The victim had been lured out of his girlfriend’s home and into an alleyway where a trio of youths, including the defendant, planned to settle a feud.

Mr Furnivel was left with bruising and cuts to his eyes, lip, face and ribs following the attack on November 28, 2016.

The case was initially listed for trial but Watts, of Wordsworth Avenue, Widnes, later pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm (ABH).

At Chester Magistrates Court today (February 22) he was sentenced to 24 weeks in custody, suspended for two years.

He must also pay £200 to Mr Furnivel in compensation and £200 in court costs, as well as carrying out a 35-day rehabilitation activity.

Finally, Watts was made the subject of a restraining order meaning he cannot contact the victim by any means.

Julian Tutchener-Ellis, defending, told the court Watts “had not had the best start in life” which had led to anger issues.

The man he had been led to believe was his father, and with whom he had a close relationship, had been decapitated in an accident while doing a job as a road worker.

The loss hit the defendant hard, Mr Tutchener-Ellis said, especially when he later found out the man was not his biological father.

“There has been a lot of supressed anger in this young man through the years,” the solicitor said.

Mr Tutchener-Ellis accepted the attack was “cowardly” but stressed his client had been just 17 at the time of the offence.

The incident had arisen following a dispute between Mr Furnivel and one of the other men in the trio, who used his sister to coax the victim out of his girlfriend’s house.

Magistrates told Watts it had been a “cowardly and pre-planned” attack and that he had avoided immediate custody only because of his age at the time.

“It’s by the skin of your teeth that you’ve stayed out of prison,” Watts was told.