Thug caught on CCTV attacking a man with two hammers in front of horrified shoppers is jailed

Mitchell Goulding, 24, launched the brutal broad daylight assault in front of women and children at the Fort Shopping Centre in Birmingham on June 20 last year.

Chilling CCTV shows the construction worker brandishing two claw hammers as he squares up to his victim among crowds of shoppers.

He can then be seen battering the man to the ground with one of the hammers before striking him another two times as he lay defenceless on the floor outside a shop.

Goulding armed himself with his work tools because the man had been staring at him in JD Sports as he was returning a pair of trainers he bought for Father's Day.

He claimed he had acted in self defence after the victim threatened to kill him and he feared that he might pull out a knife.

Goulding, of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, previously pleaded guilty to possession of a offensive weapon at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

He was jailed for 24 weeks by JPs sitting at the same court on November 24.

West Midlands Police released the footage of the attack after Goulding was caged by a judge who admitted there has been an "element of provocation" to the attack.

But District Judge David Wain told the defendant there was "no realistic basis for self-defence" as he had acted in an "aggressive and confrontational way".

Goulding claimed it was "fight or flight" when he took the decision to arm himself with the weapons from the back of his work van.

Security guards can be seen rushing to the scene of the attack while one dad clutches his young child's hand as the violence erupts in front of them.

After the assault, Goulding tried to escape from the scene only for him to be detained by shopping centre security and arrested by police.