A FATHER and son involved in a night-time fight outside a pub were criticised by a judge who told them: "It's a scourge on decent society."

Ian and John Burns were said to have been provoked into the violence by a group of other people in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, just before last Christmas.

But closed circuit television footage showed 58-year-old Ian Burns sitting astride one man and pummelling him in the face as many as ten times.

He is then seen to stand up but deliver a further three forceful blows to the prone victim, prosecutor Paul Newcombe told Teesside Crown Court.

His son, 30, was said to have sparked the violence by pushing the man over, but his barrister said it was the others who had been looking for trouble.

First there was an argument in The Spread Eagle, but when the father and son left to avoid trouble, they were followed to The Queens Head on December 19.

Their lawyer, Tom Mitchell, told Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC: "This would never have happened if others had not engaged them in trouble earlier.

"There is no doubt that whatever happened that night, there were at least two other people who were the authors of their own misfortune."

Ian Burns admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with £750 compensation.

John Burns received a three-month jail term, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of affray.

Both men, of Springfield, Stokesley, were also ordered to pay £532 costs.

Judge Bourne-Arton told them: "Those who take part in fights outside licensed premises are the scourge of decent society. Ordinary members of the public just want to enjoy themselves."

He told Ian Burns: "You escaped what might have been a minor scuffle, and poured petrol on the situation, and you were out of control.

"What you did was a cowardly attack. He wasn't able to fight back. He wasn't able to defend himself. You were just taking it out on him."

The court heard that the injured man suffered severe bruising to his face, and still endures impairment to his sight.