A JUDGE has criticised the sport of cage fighting after he jailed a man for two-and-a-half years for delivering a killer blow during an argument over drugs.

Judge Peter Fox said he was concerned about the training methods used by fighters after he was told how Liam Keith Hall punched the man in the head and then kicked him as he was falling.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Hall was preparing for a martial arts bout and had just left a training session when he encountered Neil Paul Jones at a party in Chilton, County Durham, on May 30, last year.

Hall, 21, and Mr Jones, 28, shared a martial arts background and the two started to playfully grapple at a house in West Chilton Terrace.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said things turned sour later that night when Mr Jones, a father-of-one who had recently returned to the region following the break-up of his marriage, accused Hall of stealing some cannabis.

Mr Dodds said Hall, of Dene Terrace, Chilton, punched Mr Jones in the head and then kicked him as he fell to the floor, where he remained unconscious until paramedics arrived.

Attempts to revive him failed and he was later pronounced dead.

Hall initially fled, but later handed himself in to police.

When questioned about his martial arts background, Hall told officers: “What I am training for is to knock people out, to get on top of them and to smash people’s heads in until the referee pulls me off.”

He admitted manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

Paul Cleasby, in mitigation, said Hall was sober when he arrived at the house, where the occupants had been drinking vodka, smoking cannabis and taking valium.

He said he tried to avoid a confrontation with Mr Jones and allowed him to search him twice for the missing cannabis. Mr Cleasby said Hall had shown discipline and restraint, having only struck out at Mr Jones in defence.

He said Hall had intended to wind Mr Jones and aimed a kick at his chest to temporarily disable him, but a post-mortem examination indicated the kick landed on Mr Jones’ head.

Judge Peter Fox said it was an unusual case in that it was clear on the medical evidence that the blow to the head had killed Mr Jones.

He said he accepted that Hall reacted instinctively, but he was worried that the instinct had most likely been developed by his cage fighting training.

He said: “I have to express my concern for this particular and apparently potentially dangerous training in some kind of martial sport. Although this is not the occasion to explore it, it is a matter for the relevant authorities, whoever they might be, who are responsible for cage fighting.”