A thug who repeatedly smashed a crowbar on another man’s arm in an unprovoked attack has been jailed for eight years.

The assault was overheard by victim Lee Meads’ ex-girlfriend as they were chatting on FaceTime when Lenny Ianson burst into his home.

Donna Harrison called the police and later identified Ianson from his voice, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The victim was left with a fractured arm and metal pins were inserted. He had a scar from surgery along the length of his forearm and nerve damage to his fingers. He is likely to need future bone grafts.

Ianson, 24, had knocked on Mr Meads’s door in Snodland on the evening of June 7, saying he was looking for his younger brother.

He then lashed out at Mr Meads, punching him several times to the face and striking him with the 2ft long crowbar.

The shocked victim asked what he had done, but Ianson just repeatedly threatened: “I am going to kill you.”

He hit Mr Meads on the forehead with the crowbar and then ordered him onto his knees.

"This was a senseless, brutal and also entirely unprovoked attack which will no doubt have lasting effects for the victim, who was left in fear of returning to his own home" - Det Con Lisa Stevens

The victim’s arms was struck about five times as he tried to shield his head.

“It caused excruciating pain and his arm was fractured,” said prosecutor Bridget Todd. “He clung to one end of the crowbar because he knew if he let go it would do more damage.”

He was saved from further harm when a neighbour pulled Ianson off him.

“Miss Harrison was still on the other end of the Facetime call and heard the voices,” said Miss Todd. “She called police and an ambulance and later identified the three voices as belonging to Mr Meads, the neighbour and the defendant.”

Ianson, of Nevill Road, Snodland, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing an offensive weapon.

Recorder Charles Miskin QC said there was no explanation for the attack.

He told the father-of-two: “You never said anything to police and there is nothing that can provide me with any real satisfactory explanation for what you did, and it remains a mystery.

“Yet you hit him several times in an unprovoked attack and he suffered a serious fracture.

“The attack was traumatic and the injury itself has caused troubling and persisting suffering.”

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Lisa Stevens said: "There was simply no excuse for Ianson’s actions.

"This was a senseless, brutal and also entirely unprovoked attack which will no doubt have lasting effects for the victim, who was left in fear of returning to his own home.

"This type of incident is thankfully very rare and the courts have helped us ensure Ianson is now in the best place possible for those who seek to cause violence on our streets – in prison."