A COURT has sentenced a man who knocked on the door of his victim in the early hours of the morning demanding to know where as friend was - before assaulting him.

Ryan Fegan appeared before the bench at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court after he assaulted the man in Barrow.

The 31-year-old defendant admitted that he assaulted William Pelling on April 5.

It was said that, having been drinking, the defendant had visited the home of the victim in search of a friend who had previously been jailed and refused to accept he was not there.

Prosecutor Lee Dacre told the court: “The complainant was at home when he heard a knock at the door.

“The defendant was asking where a friend was.

“He told him he was in prison but didn’t seem to accept that.

“The defendant became more and angered.

“He tried to push the door and caused Mr Pelling to fall.

“He cut his hand as he fell.”

The prosecutor told magistrates Fegan had a record stretching to 36 previous offences.

That included an assault on a police officer in 2010.

The defendant was represented in court by solicitor Elizabeth Phizacklea.

She said Fegan had been going through a difficult time with his ex-partner.

She said: “Mr Fegan has pleaded guilty today and you will give him credit for that.

“At the time of the incident he was involved in a dispute with his ex-partner.

“Having recently been granted a child arrangement order in the family court, he said his ex-partner refused to allow him to see the children.

“As a result he got very drunk and doesn’t recall the incident.

“He doesn’t dispute what was done.

“He is unemployed and able to undertake unpaid work.”

Probation officer Brian Carruthers told magistrates the defendant had previously carried out unpaid work successfully.

After giving the defendant credit for pleading guilty, magistrates sentenced Fegan to a community order for the offence.

He was ordered to carry out 150 of unpaid work in the community in the next 12 months.

Fegan was also told to pay £100 in compensation to the victim.

As well as that the defendant was told to pay a £90 surcharge to fund victim services and £85 in prosecution costs for bringing the case to court.

The court resolved to deduct the money owed from the defendant’s benefits.

Chair of the bench Chris Harris said: “Having taken into account your record we have noted previous violence.

“We placed this in the second category and we will imposed a high level community order.”

*A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to a 'child protection order' - this should have read 'child arrangement order'. The Mail apologises for any confusion caused by the error.