An Indian-origin man has escaped serving time behind bars after being handed a two-year suspended sentence and a 10-year restraining order for a drunken attack on a neighbour in the West Midlands region of England.

Gurjap Singh, 41, launched a manic assault on a woman who suffers from dementia as she walked towards her home in Fenton, Staffordshire, and went on to enter her home to repeatedly slap her on her face. According to a court report in the ‘Stoke-on-Trent Live’, the woman’s husband tried to intervene but was pushed aside by Singh who was said to be in a "state of mania".

"He pulled a clump of hair from the woman's head. The man got free and sought help," the prosecutor told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court this week.

The victims, who lived next door to Singh in Fenton, treated him like a son but it all changed with the attack in February. In a victim statement to the court, the husband said he was left terrified and completely shocked that he and his wife were assaulted in their own home and that he no longer felt safe in the house which they have lived in for 38 years.

Recorder Robert Smith, who presided over the hearing, handed Singh a two-year sentence suspended for two years, which means Singh would not have to serve jail time unless he breaches the court’s orders. Besides a restraining order banning him from contacting his neighbours for 10 years, Singh must carry out 200 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay each of his victims GBP 100 compensation and GBP 250 costs.

“You were drinking vodka heavily. There was a period of manic behaviour and some very bizarre acts on your part,” Recorder Smith told Singh.

"Your victims have lived there for almost four decades and have known you since your childhood. There was no history of problems between you. She is now terrified to be left at home alone and must be accompanied everywhere. There has been a significant impact on your two victims. They were assaulted in the sanctuary of their own home...You were in a state of mania,” he noted.

The "rehabilitative approach" to Singh’s sentence was the result of a psychiatric report which revealed that he had a clinical forensic history of bipolar affective disorder, manic episodes and psychosis. The court was told that he was engaging with mental health services.

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