A MAN said to be on a “mission” to exact violent retribution on a child rapist said he was in fact on a mission to fix his car.

Michael Loughran also said he was not a violent person and claimed that threats he made against the teenager on Facebook following a campaign which aimed to find his whereabouts after his release from jail were “just words”.

Mr Loughran and best friend Karl Carter both gave evidence in their defence at Teesside Crown Court - but were accused by prosecutor Paul Cleasby of “concocting” a story together.

The Crown says the alleged victim, previously jailed for three and-a-half years for raping a young child, was beaten with baseball bats by the pair after a reward was offered for information about where he lived.

But Mr Loughran insisted he was not carrying a weapon and only hit the victim once in self-defence after grabbing a bat the lad was carrying from his hands, having already been struck twice himself with it.

Meanwhile, Mr Carter said he stayed in the van the pair had used to drive to the scene in Darlington and only got out to kick the victim’s dog when it attacked Mr Loughran.

Mr Cleasby read excerpts from Facebook in the days leading up to the June 28 attack and repeatedly accused both men of lying.

Cross-examing Mr Loughran, he said: “You said you were on a mission. You said you wanted to smash the chin off his face.”

The defendant replied: “It was all talk, it was a figure of speech.

“They were just words. I just wanted to scare him [the victim].”

He explained the “mission” he wrote of on the website had been to fix his car which needed repairing.

Mr Cleasby said it was a cause of great excitement when Mr Loughran and Mr Carter were given information about the victim’s new address in Darlington and the pair “celebrated” at a party following the attack.

Earlier Mr Cleasby asked why Mr Carter and his co-accused had only come up with their version of events on October 27, when their representatives filed a defence statement to the court, and not before.

Mr Carter said he had been anxious, stressed and worried and was in no fit state to speak to police when first interviewed.

He said: “All I wanted to do was get out of the [police] station. My head was all over the place.”

Mr Loughran, 30, of Ryhill Walk, and co-accused 27-year-old Mr Carter, of Jubilee Road, both Middlesbrough, plead not guilty to a joint charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

They also deny charges of having an offensive weapon. The trial continues.