A man who was attacked with a vodka bottle while he slept on a couch has told of the night terrors he has suffered since.

Oliver Herbert was left with a bloody face and needing hospital treatment after he was set upon by Dael Carter in Hythe last December in a revenge plot.

Mr Herbert, 38, now has a facial scar and says the attack has left him with mental trauma, partly because Carter lives in the same town.

Speaking about how the assault has affected his life, Mr Herbert said: "I have a scar on my head. But it is not only this, it's the mental trauma.

"He lives in the same town as me. I'm a full time carer for my mum and he knows where I live. I have seen him several times since.

"I've had night terrors where I wake up with my hands covering my head."

The ambush against Mr Herbert followed a chain of events which saw Carter thrown in the Royal Military Canal earlier that same evening.

At Canterbury Crown Court last week it was heard that Carter was walking to a shop when three men pulled up in a car on December 5 - he identified them to police as Christian Richmond, Mr Herbert and a third suspect.

Carter was chased onto a bridge over the canal where he was beaten, before Richmond launched him over the railings 15ft above the water.

Richmond and his pals then drove away.

But Mr Herbert says, while he remained in the car when Carter was thrown into the freezing water, he did get out to shine his phone torch over the canal, to light a path for Carter.

Mr Herbert then returned to Richmond's home, where Richmond was soon after arrested. He was later cautioned.

While Richmond was at the police station, Carter stormed into the house to seek revenge.

He mounted Mr Herbert, who was lying on the sofa under a blanket, while holding the vodka bottle and screamed 'I'll kill you'.

He also smashed up the living room and Richmond's car.

Mr Herbert, a former manager at a car show room, said: "The door to the house opened and Dael Carter is there with an empty vodka bottle. He said he was going to kill me.

"It felt like it went on for ages. I said to him that I didn't do it, but he said 'you didn't stop it'.

"He mounted me and smashed me with bottle. I was trying to cover my head with my arms and pushed him off. I was battered.

"My head was pouring with blood.

"He then smashed the mirror and TV and the car. It was horrendous."

At hospital, Mr Herbert needed his head wound glued together.

Carter was found guilty of criminal damage and actual bodily harm and given a suspended 21 month prison sentence.

He was also handed 150 hours unpaid work, ordered to compensate Mr Herbert and Richmond £500 each, alongside a two-year restraining order to contact the pair unless for restorative justice.

Judge Rupert Lowe told the court Carter would not have carried out the assault had he “not been seriously and dangerously assaulted earlier that day.”

But Mr Herbert says he is disappointed with Carter's sentence.

He said: "I've got £500 compensation, which is the same as Richmond. I've had to attend crown court. How is this justice?

"I was never arrested over this incident, and I didn't assault anyone. I believe the police interpretation of the incident and the punishment given is not justified."

It is unclear why Carter and Richmond were feuding.

Read more: All the latest news from Hythe

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