A man who launched an unprovoked and sustained attack in the jacuzzi of the National Sports Centre’s spa suite has been jailed for 20 months.

The victim was with his girlfriend in the jacuzzi with his back to the wall when Ryan Jones, 29, lunged towards him, grabbing him in a headlock and punching him four or five times in the face.

Witnesses to the terrifying attack, which took place at 10.30am on January 16 this year, said he had forced the man under the water, causing him to lose consciousness and turn blue.

Jones is alleged to have said: ‘I’m going to kill him. I told you I was going to murder you.’

But this was denied by the defendant in a basis of plea.

Jones, who admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, said there had been an ongoing dispute between the two men.

He insisted he had not followed the man to the spa suite and it had been a coincidence that the victim had been pointed out to him there.

Jones, of Palace Terrace, Douglas, denied trying to drown him or deliberately push his head under the water.

The defendant claimed that the other man’s head had gone under the waterline for about 15 seconds but this had been an accident.

He also denied smashing the man’s head against the tiles and maintained that at no point did the victim go limp or turn blue.

In a victim impact statement, the man who was attacked said he no longer feels safe and constantly woke up in the night in a panic that his home was not secure.

‘The impact on my mental health is huge. I just want to get on with my life without living in fear,’ he said.

The dispute was said to have been over money owed.

Defence advocate Paul Glover said his client was a ‘misleading character to look at’ and described him as a ‘gentle giant in many ways’.

Jailing him for 20 months, Deemster Graeme Cook said he couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must have been not only for the victim, but his girlfriend and members of the public.

He said it was only because a member of the public and then security staff intervened that the attack stopped, prompting the defendant to say from the dock: ‘I let go of him.’

The Deemster told the defendant: ‘It was an appalling assault. You are fortunate you were only charged with ABH.’

He said the CCTV footage was not clear and might well have painted a different picture.