A man has been jailed for 10 years after hitting his victim with a hammer several times during one of two horrifying attacks. 

In the first incident Craig Ashley struck a 50-year-old man from behind before beating him as he lay on the ground during the terrifying ordeal in Ballfields, Tipton in April 2020. 

The man suffered a serious head injury and multiple cuts and bruises to his body. Then in June 2020, Ashley attacked the same man with a hammer, hitting him numerous times all over his body at a property in Tame Road, Tipton.
 
With all the odds against him, the 50-year-old survived, going from intensive care to rehabilitation. Detectives led extensive investigations, which resulted in Ashley’s arrest. On Friday (9 April), Ashley, of Willingsworth Road, Wednesbury, was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court to 10 years for the assault in June, with two years for the April attack to run concurrently. 
 
The 40-year-old had pleaded guilty days before the trial was due to commence, resulting in some reduction in sentencing of which he will serve two thirds, followed by an indefinite restraining order.