A MAN high on drink and drugs threatened to stab his father when he was asked to keep his noise down because of their neighbours.

Scott Easton was said to have had 15 cans of lager as well as amphetamine and cannabis before the argument broke out.

He pulled out a kitchen knife and thrust it towards his father's face, neck and chest, saying: "I'm going to stab you, I hate you."

Teesside Crown Court heard there were two other guests at the house in Ashlands Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, in the early hours of February 7.

Easton, 28, left the property, but then started throwing rocks and bricks through the windows, prosecutor Chris Wood said.

In an impact statement, his father said: "I am still very upset about the incident. I have had sleepless nights worrying about Scott, who has been remanded in custody.

"I do not condone what he did, but believe the only reason he did was because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

"I hope the situation helps Scott change his life for the better. He has caused a lot of damage.

"Scott is a very honest person, and he has since written me a letter from prison where he expressed that he is very sorry. I believe he is truly sorry for what he did."

Easton admitted affray and criminal damage, and was given a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with an alcohol treatment requirement and 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

Judge Howard Crowson said the only reasons he was suspending the sentence were because he had shown remorse in his letter, and he had been on remand in HMP Hull since mid-February.

Simon Perkins, mitigating, said both Easton and his father have had "significant" psychological issues since being abandoned by his mother when he was six.

He added: "Four months in Hull has had a salutary effect on him. He has dried out and sobered up in that period, and has steered clear of the risks in prison of not doing."

Judge Crowson told him: "I have not seen the letter you have written to your father, but I have heard his response to it.

"He suggests you do now appreciate what you did on that night was very frightening. This was an affray over a protracted period.

"There was some risk of harm, even if it is the case, as you say, you never intended to cause harm."