A judge described it as a “disgraceful incident”
04:41, 26 Apr 2026Updated 16:42, 26 Apr 2026
Brian Nicol was sentenced to 16 months in prison (Image: South Wales Police)
A woman was thrown to the floor and beaten up over claims she had “spiked” another woman, a court has heard.
Brian Nicol – who armed with a tyre iron – kicked and stamped on his victim after coming to believe she had spiked his wife.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said it appeared 58-year-old Nicol was seeking some sort of “revenge” for what he believed had happened to his wife when he attacked his victim, and he said a sentence of immediate custody was inevitable.
Georgia Donohue, prosecuting, told the court the assault happened at the Ensign car sales garage on Carmarthen Road in Swansea on the evening of April 18 last year. She said the complainant in the case had popped into the business to see the owner who was a friend of hers.
The court heard that at around 8.50pm the defendant turned up at the garage – which was closed – and began banging on the office door shouting “What have you said to my missus!”
The complainant opened the door and Nicol, who was carrying a tyre iron, burst inside. The prosecutor said the defendant then grabbed the complainant and threw her to the office floor before getting on top of her and striking her and kicking and stamping on her.
The 58-year-old defendant then got up and sat in a chair and accused his vicitm of “spiking” his wife before then leaving the garage. The assault was reported to police, and the defendant was arrested. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
The court heard the complainant suffered bruising and a cut to her wrist, marks to her neck, and a cut and bruising to her shoulder.
Brian Michael Nicol, of Prince of Wales Road, Dyfatty, Swansea, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon on the day he was due to stand trial. Prosecution and defence counsel invited the court to proceed straight to sentence.
Nicol has 31 previous convictions for 77 offences primarily relating to offences of an acquisitive nature and drug offences. He has one previous conviction for an offence of violence, namely a common assault from 2008. He was last before the courts in 2016 for possession of a Class C drug.
Alycia Carpanini, for Nicol, said they were her instructions that the defendant had been clean from drugs for the last five to 10 years after struggling with a heroin addiction for many years, and that he has been working hard to ensure he does not fall back into his old lifestyle. The barrister said Nicol was a working man and was “shocked” at this own behaviour on the night in question.
Judge Huw Rees said it appeared Nicol was seeking some sort of “revenge” for what he believed had happened to his wife when he burst into the garage and assaulted his victim. He said it was clear from the defendant’s recorded that he was not usually a violent man, but said on the day in question he had lost his temper and acted in anger in what was a “disgraceful incident”.
The judge said a sentence of immediate custody was inevitable in the case.
With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Nicol was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was also made subject to a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for the next 10 years.
