A man has been sentenced for viciously attacking a man, leaving him with serious facial injuries.

Timothy Aherne, aged 37, of Saint Helens Road, Bolton has today been sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to eight years in prison.

He was found guilty following a four day trial of Section 18 Assault (causing grievous bodily harm with intent).

The 32-year-old victim and his two friends were on their way to one of their houses on Longfield Road in Bolton, at about 7pm on Thursday April 12, 2012.

As they got out of the taxi they saw Aherne who invited them into his flat for a drink. After a couple of hours Aherne and his partner began to argue and created a bad atmosphere. The three friends and Aherne went back to the house on Longfield Road where they continued to drink.

In an unprovoked attack Aherne punched the victim three times in the head, he pushed him to the floor and stamped on his head repeatedly.

Aherne made threats to kill him and continued to stamp on his head until one of the other man managed to drag him off. He was pushed out of the back door and they watched him walk back to his flat.

Detective Stuart Round from Bolton CID, said: “Aherne subjected his victim to a totally unprovoked sustained attack which left him with a fractured jaw and multiple injuries to his face. He then continued to deny what he had done forcing the victim to go through the trauma of a crown court trial.

“This kind of violence will not be tolerated and this sentence reflects that if you resort to serious violence then you are likely to spend a considerable time in prison. Timothy Aherne is where he deserves to be, behind bars.

“Understandably the victim is still shaken by the incident. Hopefully today’s result will provide some closure and he will be able to get on with his life knowing justice has been done.”