A mum was beaten with a baseball bat and left with broken bones by a neighbour she had accused of making a pass at her boyfriend.
Victim Dominique Thomas, 28, has told of her horror after she was targeted by neighbour Jessica Verallo, 29, in the attack caught on a doorbell camera.
The mum had been enjoying family time in the garden with daughter Ruby, four, when she heard her neighbour hurling abuse.
Raging Verallo called little Ruby an “ugly ginger c***””.
The neighbours’ feud, called a “ticking timebomb” in court, came after Dominique warned her to stay clear of her man.
And just moments later Dominique watched in terror as Verallo came storming towards her with a baseball bat and broke her arm.
Dominque, of St Fagans, Cardiff, said: “She had something in her hand that she was swinging back and forth.
“I realised it was a metal baseball bat and the look of evil on her face as she stormed towards me was terrifying.”
The brutal attack was launched in front of horrified children in the street as Dominique pleaded: “Stop it, please. There are kids here.”
It was caught on a neighbour’s doorbell camera which was later seized by police.
Dominque said: “All I could do was watch helplessly as she began swinging the baseball bat at me.
“I stumbled backwards and fell into a bush.
“As Jessica came at me with a full swing of the bat I managed to raise my arm to stop her hitting my head.
“I felt a bone snap in my arm. It was agony.
“Then bright red blood oozed out and spurted everywhere.
“I was taken to hospital and had to undergo three hours of surgery. The doctors had to put six screws and a metal plate in my arm.”
Dominique said in the days leading up to the attack she had learned Verallo had made a pass at her partner Connor Knapton.
She said: “Obviously, I hadn’t been happy at all but I didn’t want some big scene. I’d texted Jessica a message and politely asked her to stay away from him.”
Dominique said Verallo denied this – but days later started “screaming” at her.
Verallo was arrested following the attack and later found guilty of GBH with intent, and possessing an offensive weapon after a four-day trial.
The court heard the “sickening blow echoed around” their housing complex.
Verallo was jailed for five years and given a ten-year restraining order at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in June.
