AFTER beating up two brothers with a baseball bat, a man cooked a meal and insisted his victims sat and ate with him, a court was told yesterday.

And, after hearing about the curious behaviour, Judge John Bullimore said at York Crown Court: "I expect they were so frightened they would have eaten anything."

Brian Ross Evans, 30, of Harlow Terrace, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, admitted two offences of assault on Gareth and Philip Baker in June. He was jailed for two years.

Stephanie Brown, prosecuting, said Gareth Baker lived in the same block of bedsits as Evans and, on the night of the attack, his brother visited him.

At about 10.45pm, when the brothers were asleep, Evans burst in and a fight started.

Mrs Brown said he hit Gareth with the bat about the legs and head and beat Philip about the arms and legs.

"He shouted: 'I am going to have to do one of you. I will do time for killing you'. "

She added: "Evans then seemed to calm down. He gave instructions to them to tidy themselves up and put their bloodstained clothing into the washing machine.

"Strangely, he then made them a meal and insisted they sit and eat with him."

For Evans, Nicholas Dry said: "He believed one of the victims had been stealing from the communal area of the flats. When he went for them, he had had too much to drink."

Jailing Evans, Judge Bullimore said: "This was pure, unprovoked aggression."