A MAN who headbutted his elderly mother and stepfather and threatened to pour boiling water on them has been spared jail.

Peter Hutchinson, 40, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years by Judge Peter Fox, who said he had only been spared because his mother was in ill health.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Hutchinson set about the pair at the home they shared in Lyne Road, Spennymoor, County Dur-ham, after they returned home on the night of August 7.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said Hutchinson, who had been drinking, pushed his 63-year-old mother to the floor, causing her to fall on to her left hip.

He then grabbed her by the shoulders and headbutted her in the face.

Hutchinson also attacked his 60-year-old stepfather when he attempted to intervene, butting him on the bridge of his nose.

Mr Faulks said Hutchinson threatened to pour boiling water on the pair before the police were called and he was arrested.

Hutchinson, who had a conviction for affray having previously threatened his parents with a knife, could not explain his behaviour to officers, but said he had been suffering from depression at the time.

Martin Towers, in mitigation, said his client had been drinking, but not much by his usual standards.

He said: "He expresses remorse and a determination that this never happens again."

Hutchinson, of Stanmore Terrace, Coundon, County Durham, who pleaded guilty to affray, was told by Judge Fox he had behaved in an outrageous and terrifying way.

The judge read a letter from Hutchinson's mother, who said that if he were jailed, it would worsen her ill health.