Joel Matthew Maddox seeks cut in sentence over unprovoked attack on stranger in New Norfolk

AN unemployed thug who nearly killed a stranger in an unprovoked attack with the victim’s own letterbox wants a softer sentence.

AN unemployed thug who nearly killed a stranger in an unprovoked attack with the victim’s letterbox wants a shorter jail sentence.

Joel Matthew Maddox, 20, of New Norfolk, pleaded guilty to brutally attacking 49-year-old Keith Hatton last year.

He was jailed for 10 years with a non-parole period of five.

On the night in question, Maddox was “10 out of 10 drunk” according to his own admission.

As he walked past Mr Hatton’s home on Talina Place, New Norfolk, he began tearing wooden palings off the fence and threw them through the victim’s window.

Mr Hatton went to investigate and was confronted by Maddox wielding a letterbox held by its metal pole.

Maddox struck Mr Hatton to the head and continued striking him repeatedly after he fell to the ground

Mr Hatton suffered a lacerated forehead, scalp and cheek, a haematoma of the brain, two broken denture plates, and a ruptured eye that had to be removed.

He requires lifelong residential care and help with eating, drinking and mobility.

In sentencing Maddox, Justice Stephen Estcourt said the victim’s injuries were severe enough that “the defendant might … have killed him”.

Maddox has appealed against the severity of the sentence.

Originally published as Joel Matthew Maddox seeks cut in sentence over unprovoked attack on stranger in New Norfolk