A YOUNG Bridgwater man stole his friend's motorbike and crashed it just eight days after being convicted of beating another man with a plank of wood, a court has heard.

Joshua Miller, aged 19, of Taunton Road, was found guilty on November 24 of attacking Phillip Bissett with a plank until it shattered at the end of a night out in Bridgwater in June.

Sedgemoor Magistrates were told last Tuesday how Mr Bissett was left in severe pain and suffered bruises and scratches to his arm, ribs and back.

Magistrates also heard how, on December 2, Miller took a motorcycle - belonging to a friend staying with him - out for a ride.

As he rode along Northgate he collided with a car near the police station, damaging both vehicles. He had no driving licence or insurance.

James Mumford, defending, told magistrates that Miller still maintained his innocence over the assault charge, and that the injuries suffered by Mr Bissett were “mercifully slight”.

Mr Mumford said Miller had pleaded guilty to the other charges, and had paid his friend £450 to repair the motorcycle.

Mr Mumford added that Miller was a polite, courteous but vulnerable young man, who was about to become a father.

Magistrates gave him suspended prison sentences totalling 20 weeks, an eight-week curfew, banned him from driving for a year, and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and pay compensation totalling £375 to his victims.