Thug left his his 78-year-old neighbour for dead after vicious assault in the street

A thug left his 78-year-old neighbour for dead in the street after battering him in a horrific street attack outside their homes.

Retired roofer Lyndon Griffiths had returned from buying frozen peas and chocolate at a shop when Ashley Morris set upon him.

Morris, 39, repeatedly punched and kicked Lyndon in the head, leaving him bloodied and bruised and knocking him unconscious.

Grandfather Lyndon said Morris had ‘picked on me for years’ and made numerous complaints regarding his neighbour after a series of threats.

But after parking his car near his home in Brackla, Bridgend, Lyndon turned around to see Morris, who launched an unprovoked attack.

South Wales Police described Morris’ assault as a ‘brutal and unprovoked attack’.

The force explained: ‘The victim had just been to his local shop and parked his car, when Morris walked up to him and told him to ‘smile now’.

‘When the victim asked what he meant, Morris told him that he would make him smile now, before launching a vicious attack. Morris punched his victim to the floor, pinned him down and rained down punches, targeting his head and face. He then kicked him repeatedly while he was still on the floor.’

Lyndon, covered in blood, struggled to his feet and managed to get to a family member’s house and call the police.

The pensioner recalled: ‘I turned around and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the floor with him on top of me, pounding my face.

‘When he got off, I thought he had gone, so I lifted my head up and ‘bang’, that’s when I felt the boot go in three or four times’ and I was knocked out again. He then left me for dead.’

Morris later admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for 42 months at Cardiff Crown Court.

Lyndon had three seizures in the hospital, with doctors telling him he would have died if he had suffered them before arriving.

Lyndon, who has lived on the estate all his life and tends to the community garden, described Morris as a ‘psycho’ and said he was worried about what could happen when he is free.

‘He is a very dangerous man. He’s not well, and he needs locking up,’ Lyndon said.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Constable Georgina Prince said: ‘Ashley Morris, who subjected his elderly neighbour to a brutal and sustained attack which was totally unprovoked, left his victim for dead on the floor before returning to his flat, as though nothing had happened.

‘There has never been any sense of remorse. He is a dangerous individual and belongs in prison, where he can no longer be a threat to others.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.