Homeless thug stabbed and battered Good Samaritan who took him in

Generous Terry Allan allowed Tyrone Richardson and another man, who had nowhere else to go, stay with him at his Sunderland home.

In return for his generosity, Richardson, 29, who was high on drink and drugs and had just got out of prison, stabbed Mr Allan with fork as he watched television on February 2.

The following day, after being asked to leave, Richardson used the leg from a table he had broken to batter Mr Allan as he slept.

The other man who was staying at the house told police: "I saw Tyrone Richardson hit Terry Allan across the head with a table leg.

"Obviously Terry was asleep, unable to defend himself.

"When he woke up he was trying to defend himself but Tyrone kept hitting him.

"I had to go and get help, I couldn't stop him."

Richardson, of no fixed address, who has a long criminal record, has been assessed as posing a "high risk of serious harm" to the public.

At Newcastle Crown Court Richardson was jailed for two years and eight months after he pleaded guilty to assault and unlawful wounding.

Judge Edward Bindloss told him: "Mr Allan allowed you to stay at his property because you were homeless and he was showing kindness to you.

"On February 2 you stabbed him in the face with a fork in his own home. He ran to the bathroom, you followed and stabbed him to the back of the neck. He had soreness and bleeding from those injuries.

"Understandably, he threw you out of the house and put your items out of the house.

"You came back the next day, upset and angry about that and you demanded to be let back in.

"You were let in by a third party.

"Mr Allan was asleep in his own bed, in his own bedroom in his own house, where you broke a table, armed yourself with the leg and while he was asleep you repeatedly hit him about the head."

The court heard Richardson had just come out of prison for knife possession and had been on a drink and drugs "bender".

He had grown paranoid that Mr Allan was sleeping with his girlfriend, which sparked the violence.

When he was arrested after the second attack, Richardson told police he would "bury" Mr Allan when he got out of jail and warned "it is not a threat, it is a promise".

Mr Allan suffered cuts and scratches in the fork attack.

He suffered wounds to his head that needed stapled and glued in the second assault.

Barry Robson, defending, said Richardson was a "sofa surfing drunk" who needs to overcome his alcohol and accommodation problems.