Here's our weekly round up of court cases in front of judges in the crown court.

A THUG who left a man with a blood clot on his brain and in need of three emergency operations has been jailed for more than six years.

David Peacock, of Fowler Close, Southend attacked the victim in High Street, Great Wakering after being thrown out of a pub.

At his sentencing on Friday, Basildon Crown Court heard that police thought the victim was dead due to the amount of blood and swelling on his face.

Peacock also bit two officers who attended the scene.

Good Samaritans rushed to help during the incident on November 27 last year.

Peacock was jailed for six years and six months for GBH with intent and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

He was also charged with possession of cocaine and cannabis but these will lay on file.

TWO men accused of killing Dwayne Forrester will stand trial after denying murder during a court appearance.

Jeffrey Goodwin, 26, of Russell Road, London and Hayden Line, 25, of Esmond Close, Rainham, both appeared in Basildon Crown Court yesterday charged with the murder of the 21-year-old in Pitsea, They both denied murder, with a trial now set to take place in October.

Mr Forrester was stabbed to death in an incident in Little Garth, Pitsea, in July 2018.

The court heard the trial will not require evidential experts.

The hearing was told Goodwin denies murder and any involvement in the incident.

Both the men, dressed in grey, spoke only to confirm their name and date of birth.

In January, Essex Police said since the death detectives have carried out an extensive investigation including taking 400 statements, seizing 820 exhibits, and viewing more than 180 hours of CCTV footage.

In June 2020, Crimestoppers announced it was offering a reward of £10,000 for anyone who can help find who killed the Pitsea man.

AN ALLEGED sex offender forced a child to commit sex acts, a court has heard.

Gary Battison, 25, is standing trial after allegedly engaging in sexual activity with the child.

A jury at Basildon Crown Court was played a recorded police interview with the child yesterday.

In it, the alleged victim could be heard telling police that nobody knew what had happened for several years.

Battison, of Warners Bridge, Rochford, sat emotionless in the dock wearing a white short, silver tie and with a colourful face mask during the hearing.

He is charged with rape of a child under 13, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault of a child under 13 and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Battison denies all charges.

The trial continues.

A DRUNKEN thug left a man with a "nasty four-inch cut" in his back after using racial slurs in the street.

Piotr Boryca, 34, of Tavistock Drive, Billericay racially abused one of victim, who is of Chinese descent before throwing a bottle at his friend and making threats to kill.

He was jailed for a year and two months at Basildon Crown Court yesterday after the hearing was told the victim suffered a four-inch cut to his back.

The court heard he has failed with community orders in the past and he was told there was no option other than a prison sentence.

Sentencing, Judge Shane Collery, told him: “You also made threats to kill. He was left with a four-inch cut in his back and he had to have about 12 stitches in for 10 days.

“There was use of a weapon and this was a nasty cut.”

A PAEDOPHILE who was found with more than 800 indecent images of children and had sexual conversations with children online has been jailed for four years and six months.

Lionel Bryan, 43, of Hastings Road, Southend, had sexual conversations with children as young as 11-years-old online.

Basildon Crown Court heard Bryan made the “very serious escalation” from possessing indecent images to sexualised conversations with youngsters.

He breached previous sexual harm prevention orders imposed in 2011 and 2012 after he was caught with indecent images of children.

The offences came to light after a routine check last July.

He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and will spend three-and-a-half years on licence.

A man has been cleared of threatening another at knife point in the street.

Mark Hayden, 26, of Kursaal Way, Southend was standing trial after allegedly threatened the victim at knifepoint in Fairfax Drive, Westcliff.

He had admitted previously slashed the man’s tyre with a knife and sent messaging threatening to stab and attack him, but denies chasing him with the weapon.

On Thursday, Prosecuting, Geoffrey Porter, told the jury there was an “immediate risk of serious harm” to the victim.

He said on April 17, 2020, the defendant chased the victim, who was on a push bike, with a kitchen knife.