A MAN suffered a fractured skull after he was hit on the head with a child’s scooter in a jealous attack.

John Buckley was set upon by former heroin addicts Ricky Leatherland and Lee Drury after the pair had left a drug rehabilitation centre to go drinking.

Jo Sear, prosecuting, told Oxford Crown Court yesterday Drury had tried to set Leatherland up with his former girlfriend Samantha Hutchinson, but accused Mr Buckley of having an affair with her.

The pair, who both had places at the Ley Community residential rehabilitation centre in Yarnton, had agreed to stay with the victim at Miss Hutchinson’s house in Oxford on December 2.

But they became violent after a night’s drinking.

Miss Sear said Drury punched Mr Buckley to the ground. The victim said he was kicked in the throat and “hit around the head constantly for about two minutes”.

Drury, 29, of Castle Donington, Derbyshire, previously admitted unlawful wounding and said: “I punched Mr Buckley a few times.

“He was still trying to get up so I picked up the nearest thing that came to hand, a child’s scooter, and hit him with it.”

Leatherland, 33, of Woodstock Road, Yarnton, earlier admitted causing actual bodily harm.

Drury was given a year’s jail, suspended for two years, and told to pay £600 compensation and complete a six-month alcohol course.

Leatherland was given a 12-month community order, with a six-month drug rehabilitation order, and told to pay £300 compensation.