A pensioner who attacked his friend of 20 years with a hammer and accused him of having an affair with his wife has been jailed.

Derek Morgan, 72, had been friends with Nigel Hughes for 20 years, Preston Crown Court heard, with their wives also being close.

However, after Mr Hughes’ wife died in July last year, the Morgans visited in August but then didn’t see much of the widower again.

Prosecuting, David Clarke told the court how on the morning of November 15, Morgan turned up at Mr Hughes’ home uninvited and asked to come in for a cup of tea.

Mr Hughes, 70, let his friend in but as he turned his back on him and began walking towards the kitchen, Morgan produced a hammer and began hitting the septuagenarian on the back of the head.

Mr Clarke said: “There was an ongoing struggle between the two men and the defendant began shouting ‘you have been having an affair with my wife’.

“Blood was pouring from Mr Hughes head onto the floor and he did his best to fight back as he feared Morgan was going to kill him.

“The defendant was punching him at the same time and as it continued Mr Hughes saw a knife fall to the floor.

“Mr Hughes grabbed hold of the hammer in an attempt to stop Morgan.

"He managed to kick the knife into the kitchen and kept telling the defendant to let go of the hammer as ‘he had grandchildren’.”

The court heard how Morgan was wearing cream coloured surgical gloves, which were later found in a carrier bag in his car along with the hammer.

Eventually, Mr Hughes managed to push Morgan out of his house and call the police.

He suffered cuts to his little finger and the back and top of his head, and his teeth felt like they had been 'pushed in'.

Mr Clarke went on: “He was very shocked, upset and felt very vulnerable. The police arrived and he was taken to hospital.”

Not long after, at around 11.05am, police found Morgan in his car and he admitted his guilt saying, “I am guilty, I did it”.

A victim personal statement from Mr Hughes said the incident had left him anxious, shaken and always looking over his shoulder, and he believed Morgan had come to his house that day to kill him.

In his mitigation, it was heard Morgan, who has no previous convictions, had been suffering delusions and had got it into his head that his wife had been having an affair.

His barrister said it was an “extraordinary case and was completely out of character”.

Recorder Timothy Hannam KC said: “He was a friend of 20 years and in a bizarre and terrifying event you had gone round with a hammer for no reason at all to attack him.”

Morgan, of Shakespeare Terrace, Chorley, pleaded guilty to greivous bodily harm with intent, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article.

He was jailed for three years and four months and handed a restraining order against Mr Hughes.