A ROAD rage driver who "blinded a man with his bare hands" in a frightening confrontation at a busy Bradford roundabout has been jailed today for 27 months.

Marvin Edmondson punched Ephraim Fontaine repeatedly in the face so hard that he lost an eye when violence flared in broad daylight between Otley New Road and Barkerend Road, on April 23 last year.

Edmondson, 26, of Westfield Crescent, Undercliffe, Bradford, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

A jury at Bradford Crown Court cleared him of the more serious charge of causing Mr Fontaine grievous bodily harm with intent.

Witnesses at the trial spoke of seeing Edmondson punch Mr Fontaine up to ten times in the face at the roundabout after both pulled up in their cars shortly before midday, blocking the way for other traffic.

Edmondson accused Mr Fontaine of dangerously cutting him up in his black Volkswagen Golf. He stopped his blue Ford Focus "to sort the matter out."

Today, the court heard that Mr Fontaine did not want to leave his home after suffering the disfiguring injury.

He then went out in sunglasses, feeling that people were staring at him.

After his left eye was surgically removed, he became depressed and very lonely.

He split up with his girlfriend and was unable to watch television or drive for many weeks.

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Mr Fontaine said he could no longer do his job, digging holes with a jack hammer, because of the high level of accuracy needed to avoid power cables.

"Any mistakes could be life-threatening," he said in his victim impact statement, read out in court.

Edmondson's barrister, Simon Batiste, said: "This is in effect a spur of the moment incident that took place."

His client did not gouge at Mr Fontaine's eyes but delivered a series of punches to his face.

Edmondson was battling at the time with depression and the fact that he had recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

He was now in control of the illness and wanted to attain qualifications and employment to better himself.

He had a very limited history of violence, with one conviction for robbery.

Judge Jonathan Rose told Edmondson: "You blinded a man. You did so with your bare hands."

He added: "You lost your temper in a violent, aggressive and angry attack."

The judge said the incident happened in broad daylight on a busy road, causing fear to other drivers.

"It was a repeated and sustained assault with punches," he said.