A MAN who beat his ex-girlfriend's lover with an iron bar has been jailed for three months.

Anthony Conroy, 27, burst into Sarah Johnston's house in Orpington Road, Middlesbrough, and attacked Stephen Fairlie as the pair lay in bed.

Conroy, who had kicked the front door in, struck Mr Fairlie about the head and chest several times and only relented when Miss Johnston wrestled the weapon from him.

Even as he fled, he threw bricks at the house and smashed a kitchen window.

Martina Connolly, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said Conroy, of Kirkstall Avenue, Middlesbrough, had been living with Miss Johnston and had a child with her, but their relationship had now ended.

Conroy, a scaffolder, was arrested following the incident on May 3 and the iron bar was seized, but he initially denied having gone to Miss Johnston's house.

Jim Withyman, for Conroy, who admitted criminal damage and assault, said he had been told he could not see his son and had gone to remonstrate with his ex-girlfriend over her new relationship.

He said: "There was no intention to cause serious injury. He is not a man who has a disposition for violence and this was a one-off."

Jailing Conroy for three months, Judge Peter Fox said he accepted it was an isolated incident, but it had involved serious physical violence.