A PARKING attendant who headbutted a teenage boy and left him with a broken nose has been spared jail.

Eddie Rowland Smith attacked his step-daughter’s boyfriend outside the family home in Westy after a feud.

Warrington Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday, April 19, that the 17-year-old victim attended his girlfriend’s house on Westy Lane at around 10.15pm on the Monday night in question in October last year.

She was stood in the front garden smoking with her mum and father-in-law, who told the teen ‘to say sorry’.

He replied that he had ‘nothing to be sorry about’ before Rowland Smith called him a ‘little b*****d’, grabbed him by the collar with both hands and headbutted him then walked inside the address.

The complainant was taken to hospital by his mum, where doctors diagnosed a fracture to his nose.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old defendant – who has no previous convictions – denied headbutting the youth under interview by police and instead claimed that they had ‘put their heads together’.

Mark Lever, defending, told the court that the incident came after the boy had ‘threatened’ his client’s family member.

He added: “There is clearly a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“If you were to believe that a custodial sentence was necessary, you can suspend it.

“The red mist has come down here.

“This has been building up, and he shouldn’t have behaved like this. The complainant caused a lot of difficulty to Mr Rowland Smith’s step-daughter.

“She had been threatened by the complainant, that’s the only way I can describe it. This is out of character for a man who has never been before the court before.

“He’s a family man who works full time as a car park attendant.

“I ask you to keep this man out of prison.”

Rowland Smith admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm during an earlier hearing and was handed a 24-week imprisonment suspended for a year.

He was also given a two-year community order, including a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.

Sentencing, magistrates panel chairman Steven Walton said: “This is a serious assault on a youth, and we do believe it has passed the custody threshold.

“But we are going to suspend this for a period of 12 months because there is a good prospect of you being rehabilitated and because of your previous antecedent history.”

Rowland Smith was also told to pay £200 in compensation, a £128 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs.