A VIOLENT thug was jailed for nine years for breaking a friend's arms with a hammer in a 'drug-fuelled rage'.

'Jekyll and Hyde' character Simon Steele was high on amphetamine when he carried out the vicious assault on his pal Gary Ward.

The 38-year-old, of Thicketford Road in Tonge Moor, appeared before Bolton Crown Court yesterday after previously pleading guilty to one count of common assault and one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Both of the charges relate to attacks on Mr Ward, who he had known for 20 years. The assault took place at the start of April when the pair were together at Mr Ward's house in Bolton and Steele accused him of stealing his property.

He then punched Mr Ward in his nose, causing bruising to his eyes but he apologised the following day and it was not immediately reported.

Simon Barrett, prosecuting, told the court how around two weeks later, on April 20, the pair were together at Mr Ward's house taking amphetamine at around 11am.

Steele then accused Mr Ward of stealing drugs and a SIM card from his phone and began shouting at him before punching him in the face.

A neighbour called the police because of the noise and they attended the property but no further complaint was made.

Steele calmed down but soon began accusing Mr Ward of stealing the SIM card again.

The victim then started going to different parts of the house to make it look like he was looking for the SIM card.

Steele went into a bedroom where Mr Ward was searching and hit him over the head with a mobile phone.

The pair then moved to the kitchen, where a hammer was on the worktop, and Steele said: "If you don't give me the SIM card I'm going to hit you with the hammer."

Steele picked the hammer up and swung it towards Mr Ward, who raised his arms to protect himself, the court heard.

He was struck on the forearms and Mr Barrett said this action was repeated on 'several occasions' causing Mr Ward 'unbearable pain'.

At around 8pm the pair travelled to Steele's house by car.

Steele punched Ward in the face again before pouring a bottle of shampoo over his head and throwing a towel at him and telling him to leave.

By this point the victim was so scared he left without his shoes and fell down the stairs. Mr Ward then went to his brother's house and the police were called.

The attack with the hammer fractured both of his forearms which had to be put in casts.

In his victim impact statement Mr Ward said that he could not believe Steele would behave in such a manner. Steele was also described as a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character when he took amphetamine.

Kimberley Morton, defending, said Steele was hard working and reliable.

She added that he was extremely ashamed and remorseful about what he had done and that he was keen to engage with rehabilitation programmes in prison to help tackle his amphetamine problem.

Steele has a 16-month-old daughter and Ms Morton said that he wanted to be a 'role model' to her.

Judge Richard Gioserano said: "The defendant knew in my view that the victim was no match for him.

"This was clearly something that exploded from a drug fuelled rage."

The judge described the pouring of shampoo over the victim's head as an act of 'gratuitous degradation'.

Steele was sentenced to nine years in prison for GBH with intent and four months in prison for common assault to be served concurrently.