A LANDSCAPE gardener who attacked his elderly father in a row over a bed for the night and then stole his chequebook was jailed yesterday.

Magistrates heard how 81-year-old Maitland Strong was in his bedroom, when he was grabbed by the throat and punched in the face by his son, who pinned him to the bed and rained more blows on him.

Michael Strong, 40, told his father he could not get home to his York flat and when asked to leave said he had nowhere to go.

Prosecutor Simon Ostler told Harrogate magistrates that the attack left Mr Strong and his 86-year-old wife terrified.

The son, now of Nowell Place, Harehills, Leeds, was charged with assault, which he initially denied.

While on bail, Strong returned to his parents' home in Franklin Road, Harrogate, and stole his father's chequebook.

Over the following few days, he cashed cheques for £550 and ran up a restaurant bill for £60 before the bank alerted police.

Strong was bailed again but began using his father's bank card to, among other things, run up a restaurant bill of £46.58.

When Strong pleaded guilty to assault, theft and four counts of deception, with a further eight taken into account, his solicitor Clive Farndon said his offending was fuelled by a drink problem.

Jailing Strong for five months, court chairwoman Vivien Crabb told him only prison was appropriate for a man who had targeted vulnerable victims for his repeated crimes and had shown no remorse for what he had done to his own parents.