A CAR wash employee who fractured his colleague's jaw when he suddenly lost his temper during a dispute over a vacuum cleaner has been locked up.

Kurdistan-native Hemin Poor was jailed for 15 months after being unanimously convicted of one count inflicting grievous bodily harm on Alexander Abraham at a Cowley car wash.

Jurors returned their guilty verdict for the attack at UK Direct Valeting, known locally as The Swan car wash, after two hours and 12 minutes deliberating on Thursday.

During the trial, Oxford Crown Court heard Poor was told by a customer not to clean the interior of their car at about lunchtime on April 18 last year.

Prosecutor Harry Snook said Poor spruced up the outside of the car before driving it to the next cleaning station, where Eritrea-native colleague Mr Abraham was planning to clean the car's interior.

Mr Snook said Poor, 28, demanded the vacuum cleaner from Mr Abraham but when he refused to hand it over, Poor punched his victim twice in the face.

The prosecutor said Poor then pinned his victim against the floor before strolling off to continue working at the Between Towns Road car wash.

Mr Abraham told the court the swift attack left him feeling "shocked" and unable to defend himself, eventually losing consciousness and enduring "severe pain".

He said when he attempted to dial 999, Poor gestured to him, threatening to do him further harm if he spoke of his ordeal.

The jury of six men and six women were told Mr Abraham was forced to undergo surgery to have a metal plate and screws fixed to mend his broken jaw.

Poor, of Cottesmore Road, Oxford, also left his victim with split lip and knocked one of his teeth out.

The attacker, who had previous convictions for motor vehicle offences and failing to comply with court orders, visited his victim in hospital to apologise but denied the offence in court.

Using a Kurdish interpretor, he claimed he was defending himself as Mr Abraham had had him in a head-lock.

He added: "No I didn’t hit him, I only used the palm of my hand to push his lip. I don’t know what happened after because I left quickly because he had the sharp head of the hoover in his hand."

Judge Ian Pringle also ordered Poor to pay a victim surcharge.