A FORMER soldier was spared jail yesterday, despite taking part in a savage hammer attack on his mother's violent lover yesterday - on condition that he re-enlists.

Father-of-two Andrew Carr, 23, was among a gang of four who left Keith Cullin battered and bleeding after an attack in his home in March.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Mr Cullin had been involved in a violent relationship with Carr's mother, who was forced to seek refuge from him after an argument a few days earlier.

Defence barrister Jane Waugh told the court: "Since the age of ten he has watched his mother be beaten at the hands of Cullin. He clearly regrets what he has done - he describes himself as acting like a monster.

"He had seen his mother suffer at this man's hands too often and things got out of hand."

Miss Waugh told the court that Carr's former captain in the Army said he would be welcome to re-enlist and would be posted to Cyprus or perhaps the Gulf.

She said: "He will be serving his country, as he has done with an unblemished record for four years."

Judge Guy Whitburn agreed to sentence Carr , of Aldershot Road, Sunderland, to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years.