A MAN fell from a second floor window as he tried to escape from an attacker “swishing” a weapon like Freddy Krueger of a Nightmare on Elm Street, a court heard.

The victim, fearing for his life, believed it was better to break his ankles in an 18ft fall than stay in the top-floor Tang Hall flat with Gregory Marcus Hart, said Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting.

He couldn’t get out its front door because it was locked as Hart, 53, beat him up and hit him repeatedly with a weapon, probably a pair of scissors.

“Hart began swishing the item about, in (the victim’s) words ‘like Freddy Krueger’ ... inflicting scratch wounds to his ear, chin and left leg, and puncture wounds to several other parts of his body,” said Mr Sharp.

“(The victim) considered his only option was to climb out through the window and jump.

“In his words, ‘I figured a couple of broken ankles was better than being dead... I was terrified and desperate’.”

He hung from the window’s sill before falling 18ft and hitting his head on the ground, said Mr Sharp.

He was unconscious for some minutes and suffered a broken pelvis, several strokes, and brain injury.

Hart, of Glenside Flats, Fourth Avenue, pleaded guilty to a charge of grievous bodily harm on the basis his actions caused the victim to try and escape through the window.

He has served prison sentences for violence in the past, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC adjourned sentence for a psychiatrist to assess how dangerous Hart it.

The prosecution accepts he did not throw the victim out the window.

Mr Sharp said the victim and an eyewitness told police Hart had held onto the victim’s jacket hood before letting go.

Unclear CCTV film taken from the other side of the street suggested the victim had let go himself and Hart could have tried to catch him, said Mr Sharp.

For Hart, Richard Wright QC said he had a long history of mental illness and had had different diagnoses, including borderline personality disorder and possible schizophrenia.

“The offence occurred at a time when the victim could see Hart’s mental heath was poor and appeared to be deteriorating,” he said.

Since being released from an 11-year sentence for serious offences Hart had not committed major violent offences, said the barrister.

Mr Sharp said both men lived in the same block of flats and although he saw Hart as a friend, the victim felt intimidated by him and at times bullied.

Hart was aggressive to his neighbours when he failed to take medication for his mental condition.

On May 1, he invited the victim to visit him. He told him “my head’s gone” and later picked up the weapon.