A CARLISLE judge has jailed two thugs responsible for a “brutal” late-night attack on a man and his mother outside their secluded Eden Valley home.

Victim Carl Beattie needed hospital treatment for cuts, suspected rib fractures, and a bite injury after the beating which saw his attackers repeatedly kick his head and body and stamp on him. They also threatened to burn down his house, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

His attackers - 25-year-old Mathew Craig Graham and 31-year-old Thomas Scott Hodgson – each admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

Graham also admitted dangerous driving – an offence which saw him driving at up to 70mph through Dalston, near Carlisle, while high on cocaine.

Mr Beattie, who had been in a relationship with a former partner of Hodgson, was targeted after he heard a car horn beep outside his Yanwath home on March 14 and went outside to investigate. The defendants then attacked him - an assault which Judge Nicholas Barker said was “sustained and brutal”.

When Mr Beattie’s mother Sheila, who lives next door, intervened, she too was assaulted.

Describing CCTV images of the midnight attack, Judge Barker said: “I have witnessed repeated kicks to the body... and repeated kicks to the head - forceful kicks. Such actions come regularly before this court and result in significant injuries.” He said Mr Beattie was fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries. Mrs Beattie suffered flashbacks after the attack.

In a statement, Mr Beattie spoke of the pain he endured and of being left with blurred vision and headaches. He had to take so much time off work he lost £1,000 in earnings. He had lost confidence and struggles to sleep.

The court also heard about Graham’s dangerous driving in September last year.

He admitted that offence and drug driving. Police pursued him when he failed to stop for them.

At times, on Carlisle’s southern outskirts, his Nissan reached 80mph in a 40mph zone. “Just prior to the 30mph zone at Dalston village, the Nissan was on the wrong side of the road and swerved in to avoid a collision,” said prosecutor Francis McEntee.

“It passed passed through the 30mph area of Dalston village at about 70mph on the wrong side of the road.” The defendant had 10 times the limit for cocaine breakdown product in his body.

Hodgson, of Foster Street, Penrith, who also admitted possessing cocaine, was jailed for 18 months, and Graham, of Hayocks Road, Stevenston, Ayr, who also admitted a common assault on Mrs Beattie, was jailed for two years.

As he passed sentence, Judge Barker told the defendants: “What was displayed on the CCTV, and described by Mr Beattie is clearly a sustained attack and a brutal attack on him.”

Graham was also be banned from driving for two years after his release from custody and he will have to pass an extended retest before he can drive unaccompanied.

Judge Barker imposed a restraining order banning any contact with either Mr Beattie or his mother for five years.