A CARE home worker who almost lost a finger after questioning his boss about pay says he was lucky not to suffer brain damage in the attack.

Glen Daltrey, 32, was speaking with Andrew Stern, owner of Catherine Miller House in Leigh, over an alleged error with his pay when Stern “lost it” and began raining blows upon him with a china mug on July 11 last year.

Mr Daltrey, of Thorney Bay Road, Canvey, said his first instinct was to cover his head which, while severing his little finger, protected him from sustaining permanent brain damage from the barrage, which left him requiring 15 stitches.

Mr Daltrey spoke out after Stern was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence at Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday.

He admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Mr Daltrey said: “It was a complete shock.

“He was smashing me over the head and my first instinct was to protect my head with my hand, which is how my finger got severed, It was hanging on by a tiny piece of skin. I was later told if I hadn’t had the instinct to protect my head, I would have had brain damage.”

He fled the care home and was helped by people in the street.

He added: “I didn’t have much of a sense of community before, but people in the street were getting involved and I can’t be more thankful to the people who came to help.

“People were coming out of their houses and cars shouting at him to stop, calling the police and ambulance and getting bowls of ice for me to put my hand in.

“Without them, it could have been a lot worse.”

Sentencing Stern, Judge Owen Davies QC said he took into account his early guilty plea, the stress caused by financial and family problems at the time of the attack, the allegation that Mr Daltrey had used antisemitic slurs against him and the fact he had voluntarily completed an anger management course and was continuing to take sessions.

But he added it remained a serious, sustained bout of violence, and a custodial sentence was unavoidable.

He was also ordered to pay £4,000 in compensation, a £100 victim surcharge and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.