Gateshead thug made victim drink from dog bowl and threatened to chop hands off in two-day attack
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA violent bully forced his victim to drink from a dog bowl and threatened to chop his hands off in a terrifying ordeal spanning two days.
Reece Nixon knew the victim because he had previously been in a relationship with Nixon's sister and he had been staying with the thug in Gateshead in the lead up to the attack in May this year, when he owed him money.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim was so convinced Nixon was going to slice his hand off with a machete, he offered to have a finger cut off instead. Now Nixon, who even filmed his cowering victim, has been jailed, during which he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade at a judge because he disputes making the victim drink from a dog bowl.
Describing the victim's account, John Hobley, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "He describes violence over the course of the day and the following morning. He had his head and ribs stamped on and was punched in the face.
"The defendant had a machete and said he would cut off his hand. He gave him a choice of which hand was to be cut off.
"The victim was so scared he offered a finger to be chopped off." Nixon held a machete to the man's neck during the attack, the court heard.
He also mimicked blows with it and when the victim put his hands up to prevent potential contact with his neck, he suffered a cut to his hand.
Mr Hobley, who said Nixon was branded a bully by his sister, added: "He was taking videos of him during the violence. He can be seen cowering from the machete used to threaten him." The videos were sent to Nixon's family.
He also tried to encourage the victim's dogs to attack him but they wouldn't so he attacked one of the dogs before assaulting the victim again. The ordeal came to an end when Nixon sent him back out onto the streets to go begging, as he had been doing previously.
He ran off and went to The Sage to seek help but security staff refused to call police to help him, instead calling the police to have him removed, the court heard. When officers attended, he was able to report what had happened to him.
The victim, who said he and Nixon had consumed drugs during the period he was there and being attacked, did not go to hospital but said he believed he had a fractured eye socket, jaw and ribs and two cracked teeth.
Referring to a victim impact statement, Mr Hobley, who said there was "gratuitous degradation", adding: "He describes being terrified he and his dogs were going to be seriously injured. He lost weight afterwards as a result of being unable to eat or sleep and he was left in fear of entering Newcastle city centre in case he bumped into associates of Nixon."
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Nixon, 28, of Redmayne Court, Gateshead, who has 37 previous convictions, including for violence, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threatening another with a bladed article in a private place.
Jailing him for 27 months, Judge Tim Gittins said: "You engaged in degrading and humiliating behaviour by forcing him to drink from a dog bowl and sending videos of what you were doing."
At that point Nixon launched into his foul-mouthed tirade at the judge, disputing that he'd made the victim drink from a dog bowl.
The court heard Nixon has ADHD, has been working as a mentor in prison and wants to get back in employment when released.
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