THREE men have been jailed for attacking a man they blamed for hastening the death of a close relative.

Shaun Gavin Weldon, 32, his 29-year-old brother, Paul Anthony Hodgson, 29, and their cousin, Gavin William Aldworth, 23, were said to have been among four men who forced their way into a house in Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, to carry out the beating.

Durham Crown Court heard that the attack took place on January 14 - the evening before the funeral of a woman who died days earlier from a chronic alcohol problem.

The assailants believed the man had persisted in giving drink to the woman - the brothers' aunt and Aldworth's mother - shortly before her death.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the 45-year-old man heard a knock at his door, in Jackson Street, at 9.45pm. He looked out to see Hodgson and others on the pavement.

Mr Dryden said seconds later a loud bang was heard and a masked man, entered carrying a baseball bat, having kicked the door open.

The terrified householder recognised Hodgson and Aldworth behind the masked intruder.

He was pushed into the kitchen and thrown to the floor, where he was repeatedly punched and kicked, as he curled into a ball.

Mr Dryden said the injured man managed to get to his feet and flee the house, calling police from a neighbour's home.

He was treated in hospital for lacerations to the side of the head and left ear, swelling beside an eye and badly-bruised arms.

Mr Dryden said Hodgson and Aldworth were arrested near the house a short time later.

Weldon was also arrested after approaching the officers, saying: "I did it. It was me, I'll take what's coming. I can't let my brother take the rap."

He claimed the door was slammed in his face, so - "in a rage" - had battered his way in and struck the man "a couple of times".

Weldon, of Wesley Street, Hodgson, of St Mark's Court, and Aldworth, of Kimberley Street, all Coundon Grange, each admitted affray.

Jailing each man for six months, Recorder David Gordon said that, in drink, while "brooding" over the bereavement, they went to the house seeking, "some sort of retribution".