A DRUNKEN man attacked a security guard with a drain grate, before using it to smash a store window.

Darren Cuthbertson was spotted on security cameras behaving suspiciously, carrying the grate in Peterlee town centre, Durham Crown Court was told.

The guard approached Cuthbertson and asked him to put the grate down, but he threw it at the guard, striking him on the thigh.

Jane Mitford, prosecuting, told the court that a struggle followed and the guard dialled 999. When police arrived Cuthbertson tried to run off.

Miss Mitford said: "He was very drunk and he collapsed, and was arrested. He later told police he had little memory of what happened, but he agreed he had been bang out of order."

The court heard that since the incident, in July, the guard had recovered physically from his injuries, but felt compelled to quit his job and was now unemployed.

Tim Parkin, for Cuthbertson, said: "He knows it has to be prison, but he made immediate expressions of regret and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity."

Cuthbertson, 28, of no fixed abode, admitted wounding the guard with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, and criminal damage of the window.

Judge Guy Whitburn QC jailed him for three years, 11 months and three weeks.