A MAN who assaulted two women and knocked a man out cold after they offered to help when his car broke down has failed in an Appeal Court bid to cut his jail term.

Lewis William Neal, 23, of James William Street, Sunderland, was jailed for four years at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting two counts of assault and one of inflicting grievous bodily harm in March last year.

Mr Justice Bell, who upheld the sentence, said the blow to Russell Ward, a former reporter with The Northern Echo, had caused skull fractures.