A PORTUGUESE immigrant who allowed a fellow countryman to share his flat attacked him when he learned he had been "bad-mouthing him" to a Spanish neighbour, a court heard.
Peter Scott, prosecuting, told Harrogate magistrates how Jose Da Silva, 23, punched Flavio Rocha, causing injuries that included a broken bone above an eye and a bloody nose. The attack had followed an early-morning row between the two men.
When Da Silva, of Dragon Parade, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to assault, his solicitor Stuart Field said he had extended hospitality towards Mr Rocha by allowing him to become his flat-mate.
"But there had been a long series of incidents in which Mr Rocha had bad-mouthed Da Silva to a Spaniard called Enrique," said Mr Field.
"Matters came to a head in the early hours of June 17 when Da Silva lost his temper and struck Mr Rocha, a move he bitterly regretted.
''He wants to apologise to Mr Rocha for his behaviour which was of a kind he does not make a habit of,'' said Mr Field.
Da Silva was ordered to do 80 hours community service and pay his victim £400 compensation, plus £80 costs.
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