THE lead figure in an attack on a sleeping man was jailed for four years yesterday.

Ian Shaw, 46, and others were said to have used miniature baseball bats to beat the victim, who was asleep on a sofa at a house in Peterlee, early on January 6.

Durham Crown Court heard that the previous day, the injured man had been to a funeral before drinking heavily. Following a row with his girlfriend, he returned home and went to sleep.

Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said the next thing he was aware of was "a severe pain to his head".

She told the court: "He was then repeatedly beaten by what he believes was three men. He grabbed out and took hold of the watch of an assailant, causing the strap to snap in the struggle."

The men left and the victim alerted emergency services. He noticed three ornamental baseball bats were missing.

He was treated at hospital for cuts to his head and injuries to his hand, caused as he tried to fend off the blows.

Miss Haugstad said DNA taken from the watch and a fingerprint from a wall in the house matched those of Shaw, who was arrested two months later and denied involvement.

Shaw, of McGuinness Avenue, Horden, denied wounding with intent. He told the court his watch was stolen, while his fingerprint must have been left when he visited the house to drop off a CD to the victim's girlfriend, both some weeks earlier.

But he was convicted by a jury on the second day of his trial.

Imposing the four-year sentence, Recorder Martin Bethel QC told Shaw: ""Why you did this has to remain a mystery, although it may be something to do with the words exchanged between him and his girlfriend."