A drink-fuelled thug who hit one man on the head with a hammer before bursting into another man’s flat while he was on the hunt for drugs has been locked up.

Rhys Hunter was knocking on doors in Darlington looking for a man called ‘Shufty’ so he could buy some ‘sniff’ when his erratic behaviour descended into violence.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 26-year-old left his first victim with a gash to the head after attacking him outside his home on the Eastbourne estate in April last year.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the defendant smashed a window of the victim’s home before throwing the hammer at a neighbour’s window and confronting the victim’s 21-year-old son who had come out to help his father.

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The judge heard how Hunter then turned up at a nearby address on Stocksmoor Close where he confronted a couple in flat and demanded to be able to buy ‘sniff’ – cocaine.

Miss Atkinson said: “The defendant was threatening him with a hammer which was raised above his head.”

The judge heard how the offences were committed within four weeks of a previous prison sentence ending.

The Northern Echo: Rhys HunterRhys Hunter (Image: Durham Constabulary)

Hunter, of Esk Road, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon in a private place, threatening behaviour, and criminal damage following the events of April 18 last year.

Peter Sabiston, mitigating, said his client had been doing his best to transform his life while he was on remand for five months and was due to become a father in the near future.

He said: “He says he doesn’t drink often but when he does it to excess and he becomes violent.”

In a letter to the judge, Hunter apologised for his violent behaviour saying: “I can’t imagine the pain and distress I have caused these victims.”

Mr Sabiston said the defendant had been working on his drink problem whilst in custody and understood that it was the cause of his problems.

Recorder Robert Ward sentenced Hunter to a total of 40 months for all offences while praising him for his efforts to address his alcohol problem.

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He said: “It is made more serious that the offences were committed when you were drunk and had no recollection of the night.”

Hunter was jailed in June 2020 after he forced his way into a flat and carried out an unprovoked attack with an umbrella on a man who he had been drinking with earlier.

He had been celebrating his 24th birthday with a friend at the home of a couple in Barnard Castle, at the time of the violent attack.