A WORKMAN with Asperger’s Syndrome has been jailed for breaking a man’s chestbone and putting him in intensive care.

Thomas Junior Marshall, 21, pictured, accepted an invitation from the victim, who was a much older man, when they encountered each other during a night out, said Phillip Standfast, prosecuting.

But in the man’s flat, Marshall kicked the victim two or three times and punched him three or four times.

“His injuries and the complications which he suffered from these injuries were life-threatening,” said Recorder Benjamin Nolan QC, at York Crown Court. “At one point he had to be treated in the intensive treatment unit and there were fears for his life.”

Barry Grennan, mitigating, alleged Marshall had woken from a nap in the flat to find the older man touching his legs and because he suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, he had impulsively reacted violently.

“It was a short-lived attack under provocation by a person with a particular mental disability, on the spur of the moment,” said Mr Grennan.

Marshall, of Hazelwood Avenue, Osbaldwick, and formerly of Malton, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for three years. He has previous convictions for violence.

Mr Standfast said the victim was in High Harrogate Working Men’s Club on February 10 last year, as was Marshall with his brother, father and a local builder. There was an incident between the victim and Marshall’s father which ended peacefully.

Later that evening, the victim, who had gone on to a different pub, met Marshall in the street and invited him back to his flat for a drink. The two disagree on what happened next. he said. Mr Standfast said the victim was initially discharged from hospital, but his condition worsened and he returned to hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken chestbone and pneumonia.