A man who struck his friend repeatedly about the head and back with a spirit level has been jailed for the "merciless" attack.

Paul Franey, 31, had repeatedly struck the victim with the tool during the attack which broke out after the defendant's former friend had tried to stop him driving home after they had been drinking heavily.

Norwich Crown Court has heard the two became involved in a tussle in the victim's flat in Allison Bank, Geoffrey Watling Way, in the Riverside area of Norwich.

The victim was grabbed by the throat and had his eye gouged by Franey.

The victim managed to strike Franey with his empty glass which allowed him to "make something of an escape".

But Franey then embarked on a "revenge attack" during which he repeatedly struck the victim with the six-foot spirit level.

John Morgans, prosecuting, said the victim suffered a fractured right eye socket and fractured nose following the attack on October 24, 2018.

He said it had been a "persistent" assault which involved the use of a weapon.

Franey, of Verdens Lane, Wymondham, appeared for sentence on Thursday (July 28) having previously been found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following a trial earlier this year.

Before he was sentenced, Mr Morgans read extracts of a statement from the victim who said it has had a "long lasting effect" upon him.

He said the victim suffered "torment" as a result of the attack with the fact it happened in his own home also having an impact.

Jailing Franey for eight years, Judge Alice Robinson said that simply the word assault "does not describe the merciless attack you carried out" on a then friend who had offered to get him a taxi home.

Judge Robinson said the injuries the victim suffered were "dreadful" with the damage caused having a "long-lasting effect" as a result of the "prolonged" attack which happened out of revenge.

Stephen Spence, for Franey, said it was the "effect of alcohol on this young man which causes him to react and overreact" when circumstances arise.

He said there had been a "loss of temper" or "loss of control" when drinking.

Mr Spence said Franey had accepted responsibility for the injuries with the only issue being intent.

He said the defendant himself was "appalled" at the injuries he had caused but could not remember causing them.