A MAN whose neck was broken in a collision which killed two fathers last year has suffered the same injury after being attacked near his home.

Father-of-three Kevin Chapman sustained a broken neck, and back injuries after being assaulted at lunchtime on Tuesday, in Shildon, County Durham.

Mr Chapman, 22, was a passenger in the car which hit a family group who had been collecting conkers in Bishop Auckland last October, killing best friends Bryan Hardwick, 26, and David Weatherburn, 40, from the town.

The driver, Anthony Whittaker, 26, from Cheesemond Avenue, Bishop Auckland is serving a ten-year prison sentence for causing two deaths by dangerous driving.

Mr Chapman broke his neck in the collision, an injury from which he was still recovering.

Witnesses to Tuesday’s incident, which occurred opposite the disused Jubilee Inn, in Coronation Avenue, said a car pulled up alongside Mr Chapman and the driver got out and attacked him.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: “The man hit Kevin a few times and he fell on the floor.

“I heard a loud crack as his head hit the pavement, but the lad carried on kicking him.

“He did not stand a chance.”

He was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital, and later transferred to The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where he remained last night.

His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Mr Chapman’s partner, Samantha Alderson, 22, said he had broken two bones in his neck and also had two small breaks in his lower back.

She said his original neck injury was unaffected.

Miss Alderson’s mother, Beverley, rushed to help Mr Chapman after the incident on Tuesday.

She said: “He was lying on the floor with blood coming out of his ears.

“Kevin is a small lad. He must only be about six stone.

But he is like a cat with nine lives.”

Mr Chapman’s friends’ say he knew his attacker, and believed there were ongoing issues between the pair.

A Durham Police spokesman said yesterday that a 21-year-old man from Shildon remained in police custody helping officers with their inquiries.