A MAN accused of a series of serious assaults on someone who owed him money is set to be freed from prison after many of the charges were dropped.

Lee Samson has been on remand for two-and-a-half months facing claims that he attacked a man at least five occasions in Middlesbrough over the summer.

But following a review of the case, prosecutors offered no evidence on the most serious allegations because of the victim's differing accounts.

Samson, 31, pleaded guilty to assault by beating and putting a person in fear of violence by harassment – more than 100 threatening texts to the man.

He was given four months, but because of the time he has spent on remand – the equivalent of a five-month sentence – he is likely to be freed any day.

Teesside Crown Court heard today how the victim borrowed £130 so he could go to a family funeral, and Samson threatened violence when it was not repaid.

On June 11, while he was visiting a friend and having a cigarette outside of his house, the man was punched several times before his pal intervened.

Samson is said to have told him: "I'll be back at six o'clock for my money, and if you haven't got it I'm going to put you through the window."

During a series of text messages over a month, he wrote things such as "You'll get the stock of your life. Get me some money or I'll put you in hospital."

Paul Abrahams, mitigating, said Samson, who appeared in court via a live video-link from Durham Prison, had never been in custody before his remand.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, told him: "You had a problem with this man, but the case as it was is very different from the one I'm sentencing you for."

The judge said the complainant was not a reliable or credible witness, and certain claims he made about injuries - including a broken jaw - were not true.

Judge Bourne-Arton told Samson, of Wembley Street, Middlesbrough: "The effect of the sentence is that you will be released if not today, very soon."