A TEENAGER who “rained blows” on a fellow motorist, breaking his arm in an apparent road-rage incident has been spared jail.

Sean O’Hagan carried out the unprovoked attack on Thomas Norton after being angered by a manoeuvre the victim had carried out in his car in Redcar.

But after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm he was given a suspended prison sentence by Recorder Eric Elliott who said O’Hagan had not been in trouble before and agreed that the attack had been out of character for him.

The family of Mr Norton, a self-employed painter and decorator who could not work for several weeks because of his injuries and also had to lay off staff, branded the sentence “absolutely disgusting” and said his attacker should have been jailed.

Teesside Crown Court was shown brief CCTV footage of the incident on November 20 last year in Regent Walk, Redcar, which occurred as Mr Norton was waiting to pick his wife up from a local shop.

Prosecuting, David Crook said there had earlier been a “disagreement” between the two men which led O’Hagan to shout abuse at the victim.

He then attacked Mr Norton - who had got out of his car - in what described as a completely unprovoked fashion, leaving him no opportunity to defend himself.

Mr Crook said: “Blows were continually rained down on him, he felt numb and was trying to cover his head and protect himself.”

The incident only stopped when a passer-by shouted at O’Hagan, who then walked off, still adopting a “fighting stance”.

Mr Norton was taken to hospital, having broken his arm in two places as he tried to defend himself.

In a victim impact statement read to the court he said he remained in pain and discomfort and had suffered financial difficulties as a result of not working.

Mr Crook said 60-year-old Mr Norton had now returned to his job, but had difficulty carrying heavy implements and was limited in other activities.

Amy Dixon, mitigating, said O’Hagan did not seek to justify his behaviour which she called completely inexcusable. He also expressed sincere apologies.

She said the jobless 19-year-old, of Thames Road, Redcar, was “desperate to work” and had applied for a number of jobs.

Recorder Elliott said the attack had been cowardly and sustained. But he felt he could suspend a 12-month jail sentence on O’Hagan for two years and said it was highly unlikely he would appear before the court again.

The defendant was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work in the community and will also pay £250 compensation.