A MAN who carried out prolonged beating on another resident in supported accommodation has been told to expect to receive, “a very likely custodial outcome” to his case.

The warning was made to Thomas Dixon, after he admitted a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, arising from an incident on Thursday March 3, this year.

Appearing at a Durham Crown Court plea hearing to answer the charge, Dixon was told by Judge Ray Singh he should view cctv footage of the incident before the single count was put to him.

During the footage, played to the court, the defendant can be seen repeatedly raining blows on his 32-year-old victim, who the court heard lost part of an ear in the incident.

Read more: Men wanted following alleged assault in Durham city centre

The footage was from a ceiling-mounted camera covering a room within a supported accommodation facility in Ferryhill.

Dixon is seen returning to the room intermittently to continue the beating, before the victim manages to get to his feet and flee the premises, assisted by another resident, who prevented the defendant from chasing after him.

Following the court screening, Judge Singh agreed to briefly adjourn to enable Dixon to have a conference with his counsel, Robert Mochrie, before entering his plea.

On his return into court, the charge was put to Dixon, who pleaded guilty.

Judge Singh agreed to adjourn passing sentence to allow the Probation Service to prepare a background report on the 40-year-old defendant.

Bailing Dixon, of Castlereagh Close, Long Newton, Stockton, to return for sentence on Friday June 10, Judge Singh told him there would be, “a very likely custodial outcome”, in the case.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054