Brute launched terrifying baseball bat attack on man and woman he found in bed together

Christopher Johnson had been intimate with the woman, who told him she did not want a relationship, in January but they then argued about him getting another girlfriend pregnant.

Newcastle Crown Court heard despite the row, they stayed at a male friend's home overnight and the following day Johnson went to visit his mother.

He then went back to the house and found the woman in bed with that male friend. Prosecutor Neil Pallister said: "He entered the bedroom and said words to the effect, "I f***ing knew it. He called her a dirty sl*g and sl*t."

The court heard the other man was trying to pull up his trousers and usher Johnson out of the room when he was attacked.

Mr Pallister said: "The defendant picked up a two foot long metal baseball bat that was kept in the hallway.

"The defendant hit him on the left side of the face with the bat, causing bleeding and immediate pain. He stumbled backwards and was struck with the bat twice more, hitting him both times around the left eye."

The court heard as the victim tried to get Johnson out of the house he was hit twice more, leaving him with a cut to the eye, and the woman tried to intervene.

Mr Pallister said: "He hit her once on the head with the bat and she fell to the floor. She believes she was briefly knocked unconscious.

"The defendant pushed her down onto the sofa, slapped her across the face four times and briefly held her neck."

When Johnson eventually left he used the bat to smash the kitchen window before he ran off.

After he was arrested he told a custody officer: "I found my ex in bed with another fella so I gave him a good hiding, it had to be done. When I found them I saw red and just done it.

"If she had told me she was seeing this person I wouldn't have been that bothered. She didn't inform me and that's why I've done what I've done."

The male victim said in an impact statement he was left with a "strong sense of anger" towards Johnson, who he said had been a friend for around six years and added: "He has never been in a relationship with her, he has been told he is not in a relationship with her."

The woman said she was "terrified" by what happened and feared Johnson would come back and hurt her again.

She added: "I thought he was my friend. I can't believe anyone would do this to me." Johnson, 42, of Close Street, Sunderland, who has a criminal record, admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to the man, assaulting the woman and criminal damage to the window.

Jason Smith, defending, said: "He believed he was in a relationship with the woman. They had had relations on a number of occasions.

"It is confirmed in her statement that the day before they had had sex and she seemed to, on that occasion, believe they were in some form of relationship.

"The fact they were in an argument about his previous partner and the fact she was pregnant would suggest in fact there was a relationship present to this point because why would there have been an argument otherwise.

"In all the circumstances, Mr Johnson had reasonable cause to believe he was in a relationship with her."

Mr Smith said finding the woman having sex with his friend when he got back from visiting his mother was a "significant provoking factor" and added: "He wouldn't ordinarily have acted in this way. What happened was because he thought he was in a relationship with this young lady. When he saw them in bed he saw red and reacted in the manner he did, which he now deeply regrets."

Mr Smith said Johnson had to stop working after a bad traffic accident but hopes to get back into employment.

Mr Recorder Richard Stubbs sentenced Johnson to 28 months behind bars and said: "It is extremely fortunate that repeatedly hitting him about the head with a baseball bat did not result in more damage to him."

Recorder Stubbs issued restraining orders to protect the victims.