TWO men were seen brawling in the street when a road-rage incident carried on into a quiet residential area.

A neighbour saw Graham Hickson “totally out of control” with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other after the fight in Haven Close, Darlington.

The other man – who has never been traced – was said to have got the better of the father-of-three before fleeing and leaving Hickson fuming.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he mocked Hickson and pretended to film him prone and bloodied on the ground with his mobile phone.

Earlier on January 5, there had been an incident at traffic lights on Yarm Road when two drivers were involved in an argument.

The other motorist got from his vehicle, but opened the passenger door and assaulted Hickson, the court heard.

He then followed the van Hickson was in until he was dropped off at home, and continued the row.

Shaun Dryden, mitigating, said the 37-year-old picked up the weapons from next to his garage door “to scare the other man off”.

Mr Dryden said: “On the day in question, he has to accept he behaved uncontrollably. He accepts he should never have gone back out to confront that male in the street.

“He is not a young man, an inexperienced youth. To all intents and purposes, he is a hard-working family man, running his own business.

“He is aware, because of the news over the last few weeks, the consequences of knife crime.

“It may be regarded as an epidemic, and the defendant is only too aware of the consequences of taking a knife out onto the street.”

Mr Dryden said Hickson assumed the incident was over at the traffic lights, was shocked to find the man outside his home, and was worried about his wife and children inside.

A neighbour who called police said Hickson was being pinned down and repeatedly punched before the other man left the scene.

He said his neighbour was “totally out of control” as he paced up and down the street after the bloody altercation.

Police found Hickson with a head wound, but he was charged with affray and possessing a blade in a public place – which he admitted – and he was jailed for 12 months.

Judge Sean Morris described the knife as “a murderous weapon” and said of the realistic-looking air pistol: “Quite why someone would want something like that, I do not know.”

He added: “There you were strutting up and down the street, covered in blood. It must have looked terrifying to anyone.”