THE owner of a cat who tried to shoo away a dog which was chasing it was knocked unconscious by a man walking the other animal, a court heard.

Shaun Rudd felled his neighbour with a single blow - but he fell backwards and smashed his head open on a stone fountain in his back yard.

The victim needed a dozen stitches in a gaping wound, was left with blood pouring from his ears and suffered a crack in both sides of his cheeks.

He still has problems with discomfort and hearing, prosecutor Rod Hunt told Teesside Crown Court as 33-year-old Rudd was jailed for 18 months.

Rudd fled from the scene in Stockton last September, but called the police and told them where they could find the injured man, said Mr Hunt.

He also admitted punching him, but also created "a bogus account" in which he said he had acted in self-defence when he was threatened with a knife.

The court heard how Rudd - who has served lengthy prison terms for robbery and false imprisonment - took exception to his dog being chased with a broom.

The two men exchanged words, before the victim turned away and was knocked to the ground in what a judge told Rudd was an unprovoked attack.

Andrew Stranex, mitigating, said: "This was Mr Rudd overreacting to an unfortunate situation where a dog which was new to him unfortunately ran off.

"He perceived his dog was under threat from the complainant. It is quite clear that this was a situation in which he lost his cool and flared up.

"It was a single punch and when he saw what happened as a consequence of that punch and the complainant going to the ground, he simply panicked."

Rudd, of Hartington Road, Stockton, who admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, was told by Recorder Simon Batiste: "You immediately blamed him.

"You are someone with a terrible record of previous convictions, albeit the vast majority are not for offences of a similar type. Only custody can be justified."