A KEY witness who spotted a youth launching a brutal attack on father-of-two Russell Nixon in the middle of Chippenham in May should be rewarded for helping the police, a judge has said.

Elizabeth Parker has been recommended to receive £200 from the High Sheriff by Judge Peter Blair QC following the sentencing of

Matthew Chapman at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old, who was on a work placement as a nanny at the time of the incident, was praised for her detailed descriptions that led to the swift arrest of Chapman, 23, of Wood Lane.

“I would like to commend Elizabeth for what she did and I will be recommending to the High Sheriff that she is given a reward of £200 for the information used in this case,” Judge Blair said.

“I would also like to commend Police Constable Jacquie Williams for her alacrity in racing to the scene and following up the possibility that the defendant was in Unity House in such a short space of time.

“I’d also like to praise Detective Constable Michelle Hilton, who with due diligence, has ensured that the case has been prepared in such a short period of time.”

The court heard how Chapman, who had been in court 34 times

before for 59 offences, launched a serious and sustained attack on the 38-year-old victim in his own home in

Derby Close on May 10, punching him three times in the head with such force that he landed in the bath. He was also attacked with an electric drill and a baseball bat.

Chapman, who wanted Mr

Nixon’s PIN and some of his prescription drugs, then hit him at least 19 times with a brick in

London Road at around 12.10am

before leaving him for dead and walking back to Unity House.

Sentencing him, Judge Peter Blair QC gave Chapman credit for his early guilty plea and his apology, but added: “You didn’t just resort to using your fists with him, you picked up an electric drill and hit him with it, with a blow that was so severe it left a clear imprint on his head; this seemed insufficient for your desire of violence though because you also attacked him with a baseball bat.

“Later you picked up a brick and while he was prone delivered an unrelenting series of blows to his head, impacting him at least 19 times, with two of those blows fracturing his skull and driving fragments of skull into his brain. You left him there to die.”

Chapman was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum of 18 years.