A man who pulled his brother to the floor and kicked him in the face while wearing 'steel toe caps' at a Christmas party at their dad's house has avoided jail.

Matthew Alty, 22, and his brother Connor Alty had been celebrating a late Christmas at their father's house on December 27 when a fight broke out between the pair.

Preston Crown Court heard how Connor had a picture of his three-month-old baby on his phone, who Matthew was not allowed to see, and Matthew took the phone off him.

Prosecuting the case, Paul Cummings said Matthew started shouting at his brother, with Connor asking for the phone back, causing Matthew to drop it to the floor and stamp on it, shattering the screen and breaking the phone.

Mr Cummings said: “The defendant punched Connor to the face in a further scuffle.

“Their father tried to intervene to keep them apart but was not successful and the scuffle results in Connor falling to the floor.

“He was kicked ‘really hard’ to the face.”

It was also said Matthew was wearing steel toe cap boots when he kicked his brother, resulting in Connor needing four stitches to the injury on his forehead at hospital.

In a victim impact statement, Connor said he was "scared" and felt he could not visit his mother or father’s homes through fear Matthew may be there.

In mitigation, Rachel Cooper said Matthew suffered with autism and ADHD and that he accepted when he got angry, he would "go from 0 to 100 without thinking about it".

She said: “He speaks of his very deep regret of what happened that night. He wishes it never happened.

“He did not intend to cause that level of injury to his brother.”

Ms Cooper went on to say the pair had a "volatile" relationship building up to the assault and Matthew was upset that his brother was not allowing him to see his nephew.

On the night of the incident, Matthew had been drinking and was an intermittent cannabis user.

Matthew has been working "very well" with probation services and is following the alcohol treatment requirement and rehabilitation set out in an earlier suspended sentence.

In sentencing, Recorder Nicola Daley spared Matthew jail due to his mitigation, but said if he offends again, it may be a different matter.

She said: “On December 27, just after Christmas, you and your brother and other family were celebrating Christmas together.

"That should have been a nice time for all of you.

“Rather than dealing with it maturely, you reacted violently, and you got very cross.

“You know that you shouldn’t have done that. You told probation you know you can’t behave in that way.”

Matthew Alty, of Great Meadow, Chorley, had pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage and assault causing actual bodily harm at a previous hearing at Preston Magistrates' Court on April 27.

He was given a six-month sentence, suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work.

He must also continue to follow the requirements of another suspended sentence which includes a six-month alcohol treatment plan and 20 days of rehabilitation.