Melton haulage yard owner hit site's caretaker over head with bar, Leicester Crown Court told

A business owner hit a man over the head with a metal bar following a dispute over litter.

Kevin Eaton owned the haulage yard at Six Hills in Melton, and the man he attacked lived on a caravan at the site in exchange for proving caretaker services and security to the business.

Leicester Crown Court said the caretaker woke up on the afternoon of April 22, 2011, to find litter outside his caravan.

He began arguing with Eaton's son and drove into a car containing the defendant's wife.

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Eaton and other people at the yard decided to detain the man, before the defendant struck him over the head with a metal bar.

Eaton, (56), of Hill View, Six Hills Road, Melton, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and was fined £500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.

Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, said: "The complainant said he had been sleeping and got out of his caravan to find litter scattered around his door.

"He called across to the defendant's son. There seems to have been a heated exchange.

"This defendant was seen wielding a metal bar, striking the complainant."

The complainant was left with a swollen and bruised left eye, a five-centimetre gash to his head, a bruised left hip and scratches to his hand.

The court heard not all of these could be directly attributed to Eaton, who has nine convictions for 13 offences in the last 13 years – the last in 1991 for assault.

Graeme Wilson, defending said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis of excessive self-defence, and that his last conviction for "significant violence" was 26 years ago.

He said after the exchange, the complainant drove his car at Mrs Eaton.