AN angry man who used his car to plough into a cyclist before launching a violent attack with his fists and a hammer during a revenge attack has avoided being jailed.

Paul Small mounted the kerb in his Vauxhall Astra before knocking his victim into a wall and pinning him there with the car.

The defendant jumped out of the vehicle and began to rain down blows on the man who believed was responsible attacking his younger brother.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said the defendant spotted his target riding his brother's bike as he drove along Hartington road towards Dovecot Street in Stockton, and ploughed straight into him.

She said: "The defendant got of his vehicle and approached the victim and punched him to the face but he retaliated and punched the defendant to the face but was pinned to the wall."

The pair, who were described in Teesside Crown Court as known associates, exchanged a flurry of punches and the man attempted to escape by climbing on the roof of the car.

Miss Masters added: "He continued to rain down blows on the victim and pulled him down from the roof of the vehicle. He then got a hammer out of the car and raised it above his head before using it to hit him to the left temple."

The court heard that Small then hit the man twice more the hammer by delivering blows to his shoulder.

Small, of Lanchester Avenue, High Grange, Billingham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, affray and having an offensive weapon in public following the attack on December 3 last year.

In mitigation, Nicci Horton, urged the judge to spare her client immediate custody as there was a 'unique' set of circumstances involved when Small saw 'red' and launched the attack.

She said: "It is a difficult case, it's right to say it is a revenge attack but I don't think there is any dispute that the victim is already serving a prison sentence for the incident that Mr Small was complaining about."

Judge Paul Watson QC said 'it has not been an easy decision to make' but gave Small a 20-month jail sentence suspended for two years. He said: "Affectively you have beaten him up and have had a hammer in your hand at the time. If you did hit him with the hammer it didn't cause serious injury – it's a miracle in my view that he was not more seriously hurt."

Small, who runs a property maintenance company, was put on a tagged curfew for ten months between the hours of 9pm and 6am and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for two years.