THE father of a convicted rapist said to have been attacked by vigilantes told how he rushed into his home shouting: "Dad, dad, they've got me, they've got me."

The 18-year-old claims he was battered by two men with baseball bats just days after being freed from his three-and-a-half-year sentence for molesting a child.

He told a jury at Teesside Crown Court today (Thursday, November 20) that his attackers were Karl Carter, 27, and his friend Michael Loughran, 30, both from Middlesbrough.

The pair are said to have tracked down the sex attacker to a secret address in Darlington following an internet campaign to find him.

The prosecution claims the two men put up a reward of £1,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of the teenager, who was released after serving half his sentence.

The complainant's father told in a statement read to the court that he had to move from his estate when tensions ran high following the conviction in 2012.

On the day his son was to be freed, his father said Mr Loughran and Mr Carter were outside his new flat in Eston, Middlebrough - an address he thought was secret.

He was found a temporary place to stay in Darlington through the church he attended and for which he worked as a volunteer for the food bank, his statement said.

Days later, the local authority found he and his son a privately rented place in Darlington, but that was soon traced by the two accused, the court was told.

On June 28, the complainant and his father were moving furniture into their new flat, while the teenager's mother looked after his dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier.

At about 7.25pm - and in breach of a night-time curfew - the compainant went to his mother's home nearby to collect his pet, some clothes, and DVDs and CDs, the court heard.

As he returned, he says, he was set about by two men who leapt from a white van - who said nothing, but "grunted" as they laid into him with weapons.

He told the court that he was "110 per cent certain" that his first attacker was Mr Loughran and was "80 per cent sure" the other man was Mr Carter.

Mr Loughran, of Ryhill Walk, Ormesby, and his friend, of Jubilee Road, Eston, deny a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The teenager's father said that he heard a bang at his door at about 7.30pm, went to investigate and saw his son half-way up the stairs on his hands and knees.

"He had blood coming from his head and on his face," he said in the statement. "He shouted 'dad, dad, they've got me, they've got me with baseball bats'."

The trial continues.