A schoolboy from Southampton has appeared in court after fracturing the cheekbone of a classmate during an ongoing battle over a girl.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful bodily harm when he appeared in Juvenile Court last week. The court heard how the boys were at a house party when the victim claims he was attacked from behind by the youth.

The victim, who is around the same age, told Police that he was punched in the face, causing him to fall to the ground and strike his head. The boy said while on the ground, he was then kicked twice in the head. He suffered a fractured cheekbone.

But the accused, who attends a private school and was 15 at the time, said it was out of character for him, and said it was the result of an ongoing feud between the boys. He told the court that he was upset because the other boy had been talking about him behind his back, and said minutes after the attack he had apologised.

The accused said: "I want to say that it's not a normal act. I'm not normally like that."

The boy's mother, teacher and the mother of his girlfriend said the assault was out of character and asked for leniency.

She said: "He should not have handled it this way, but there were circumstances that led up to that night. He should not have to take the brunt of this. But I have a real problem with what he did - he's still under punishment."

His teacher said both boys were now on friendly terms and asked the court to be lenient. She, too, said the attack was out of character for her student.

She said: "No one thought it would escalate to this point. He is very easy going and he normally lets things go over his back. Part of the problem was girlfriends - competitive things."

But Chair of the Bench Tyrone Chin said: "Gossip mongering is a national pastime in Bermuda. Look at the scale of this. He talked about you - you punched and kicked him in the face. Two kicks in the face is beyond reasonable force. That's my concern here. I see this as anger management. I want to nip it in the bud now."

Mr. Chin released the youth on $750 bail, with a like surety, to appear before the court again on September 18.

He ordered a social inquiry report on the accused and asked for a victim impact statement from the victim.