A road rage attacker will learn his fate today after his sentencing was adjourned yesterday for the magistrate to consider the penalty.

But Magistrate Will Francis said on Monday that Eric Kenneth Dunkley, 29, was likely to be jailed for the offences, which led to a car driver suffering a broken nose and cut mouth, and a security guard suffering a blow to the head.

The only question, he said, was how long the sentence should be.

Yesterday, Prosecutor Wayne Caines suggested Mr. Francis send Dunkley to the Supreme Court for sentencing, where he could be handed down more than the maximum 12-month sentence in Magistrates Court.

He said Dunkley's previous convictions for assault and attempting to cause the death of someone which spanned from 1991, along with the seriousness of the latest incident, warranted a more substantial prison-term.

However, in mitigation, Dunkley's defence lawyer Richard Hector said Mr. Francis had to be sure of the facts in the case before passing sentence, and said his client had stayed crime-free since 1996.

He also said Dunkley should be given some leniency because he had pleaded guilty to the attack on Mr. Mooney. However, Mr. Caines said he had only pleaded guilty at the final hour - when the case went to trial on Monday.

Mr. Hector also said Dunkley had a nine-year-old-son to take care of and was very hard working, and suggested instead that justice would be served if a suspended sentence was handed down.

The Royal Gazette reported on Tuesday how Dunkley had pleaded guilty to causing Colm Mooney grievous bodily harm in February this year.

Mr. Mooney alleged that he had been driving along Harbour Road with his now wife Elaine at about 12.30 a.m. when Dunkley had sped up behind him and collided with his car while trying to overtake.

Mr. Mooney then alleged that Dunkley approached him in his car and punched him in the jaw, without saying a word, causing his teeth to sink into his mouth.

When the couple drove away in fear, the court heard how Dunkley chased them at high speed through the streets, before the couple made their way to the Southampton Princess Hotel for help.

There, they said they fled inside in fear, but were followed by Dunkley, who again punched Mr. Mooney, breaking his nose.

One of the hotel's security guards, Gladwin Edness, is then said to stepped in to prevent Dunkley striking Mr. Mooney again, and was himself punched in the head.

Dunkley pleaded not guilty to causing Mr. Edness actual bodily harm, but was found guilty of the offence by Mr. Francis.

Throughout the trial, Dunkley maintained that he did not punch Mr. Mooney or Mr. Edness and said metal plates in his hands meant he could not make fists.

He said he never touched Mr. Mooney on Harbour Road, but said he had slapped him with an open hand at the Southampton Princess.

He suggested to the court that he was wearing a ring at the time which could have broken Mr. Mooney's nose, and said the cut to the inside of his mouth could have been caused by the same slap.

Yesterday, Mr. Caines read Mr. Mooney's victim impact statement to the court, which stated that since the attack both he and his wife felt paranoid and insecure both at home and in public, and, as a result did not venture out socially as much, particularly at night.

Mr. Mooney said that since the incident he had had trouble breathing and suspected that he may eventually have to undergo surgery to repair his damaged nose.

The statement said: "We don't feel safe when we are in our home, or when we are driving our car. When I'm driving I'm very fearful for our safety. I'm nervous when ever a car moves up too close behind us. We do not drive on Harbour Road anymore."

And Mr. Mooney said he and his wife hoped Dunkley faced the full force of the law to they and other people did not have to go through that again.

Dunkley was remanded into custody until the sentencing today.