Wearside dad admitted assaulting teenage boy over allegations he bullied his son and stamped on his head

Jon Hunter, 35, of Greendale Gardens, Hetton, pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy when he appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court last month.

At a sentencing hearing this week, Hunter was fined £75 for the assault.

At the earlier hearing Glenda Beck, prosecuting, said the victim was visiting his girlfriend in Newbottle when a man called him over.

She said: “He grabbed the defendant by the collar at the back of his neck.”

The solicitor said he pulled him around the side of the van, where his son was sitting inside.

She said: “He said ‘if you do anything to him again, beware what happens’.”

Ms Beck said the teenager was left with a red mark on his nose and forehead.

She said two weeks before the incident there had been a pre-arranged fight between the two boys.

However, Anna Metcalfe, defending at the September hearing, said: “It is completely disputed that this was a pre-arranged fight and Mr Hunter said this was actually an attack on his son. He has seen a video of this male stamping on his son’s head.

“Unfortunately, it hasn’t stopped there and after the fight the son started receiving messages, not just from this male, but from his friends as well.”

She said the self-employed bricklayer and his son were out in the van when they saw the teenager and the son told him who he was.

Ms Metcalfe said: “This was just a chance meeting; they were not looking for him. His intention was to simply scare him off and tell him not to go anywhere near his son.

“He understands that by holding him by the shirt, that was an assault.

“He knows that if anything like this happens in the future he will go to the police.

“But what he did say is this male has left his son alone since this.

“His son is no longer being bullied by this male.”

When dad-of-four Hunter appeared in court for sentencing, he said: “The lad was persistently bullying my son. I have footage on my phone and he was stamping on my son’s head.

“I lost my temper, I shouldn’t have, but I lost my temper. I just wanted to warn him off.”

As well as the fine, Hunter was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £90 victim surcharge.