A Filipino who was subjected to a brutal and unprovoked beating has revealed the attack has left him scared to go out on his own.

Joey Prevendido was set upon by Desai Jones after Jones targeted him in the street on May 13 and shouted: ‘f***ing foreigners, they are taking our jobs”.

The President of the Association of Filipinos suffered a broken and dislocated jaw as a result of the assault and had to be fed through a straw for three weeks.

Yesterday as Jones was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to the attack, Mr Prevendido told how the vicious assault had affected his life.

He said: “Now I get really paranoid when I go out, especially on my own.

“Every time I see a stranger’s face I worry that I am going to be hit again.

“I suddenly get very nervous and often I just cross the road to avoid people I don’t know.

“I’m scared to leave home now.

“To me it feels like Bermuda is not as safe as it used to be.”

Mr Prevendido had left home to do his laundry at around 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 13 when he crossed paths with Jones, who was just outside Augustus Funeral Home.

Jones shouted “f***ing foreigners, they are taking our jobs” before unleashing a series of blows to Mr Prevendido’s face who was knocked into the hedge.

The 40-year-old was arrested by police soon after the attack in Brunswick Street in Hamilton.

Mr Prevendido told The Royal Gazette: “It all happened so quickly.

“Suddenly I heard the words then I got hit.

“I fell into the hedge and tried to defend myself by kicking out.

“Then some people came to pull him away from me.”

Mr Prevendido was taken to hospital via ambulance where an X-ray revealed he had suffered a broken and dislocated jaw.

He remained in hospital for three nights before he was discharged.

He added: “My face was swollen up like a balloon.

“For a long time after I left hospital I was not able to chew.

“It was difficult to sleep at night and I could not lift anything in case I did further damage to my jaw.

“It just felt like my jaw was going to fall apart.”

Jones was due to stand trial at Magistrates’ Court yesterday for the attack on Mr Prevendido.

But he changed his plea to guilty at the last moment, which meant that Mr Prevendido did not have to relive the attack in court by giving evidence.

Mr Prevendido said: “I was so relieved he pleaded guilty.

“I was ready to give evidence but I was really nervous. I did not even want to look at him in court.”

Jones was originally also charged with racial harassment, but in light of his guilty plea to the assault prosecutors offered no evidence to the second charge.

The unemployed Sandys man was remanded in custody by Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo until October 16 when he will be sentenced.

Mr Tokunbo said: “Given the serious nature of this offence, it being an unprovoked act of violence resulting in grievous bodily harm to the victim and the defendant’s history the sentence is pretty much inevitable.

“I will remand the defendant in custody for sentencing at a later date and order a social inquiry report.”