A DRUNKEN row between two previously friendly disc jockeys ended with an axe attack in the early hours of New Years Day, a court heard.

David Neil Allen, 20, and his victim, a 19-year-old fellow DJ, both played gigs in Darlington on New Years' Eve, Durham Crown Court heard.

Both then went to the town's Mardi Gras club and on to Allen's home in Minors Crescent in the town, where they continued drinking.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said an argument developed between them, which saw punches thrown and the pair grappling for some time.

Allen told the other man to leave, but when he returned to retrieve his bike from a shed Allen ran at him and struck him with an axe.

Mr Dryden said the victim sought help at a friend's house but later returned, after treatment, and broke a window.

It was Allen who called for the police, to complain about criminal damage, but when officers arrived he confessed to the earlier attack.

Police recovered the axe from the bathroom and arrested Allen, who claimed he acted in self-defence.

Jamie Hill, mitigating, said both men involved in the incident were incredibly drunk and were both guilty of excessive behaviour.

"Thankfully the injury doesn't appear to have been too serious and indirectly the complainant has communicated to him to say there are no hard feelings," he said.

Mr Hill said that Allen, who hopes to get a job at a hover mower factory in Newton Aycliffe, moved away from Darlington after the incident, and has been living with relatives in Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, where he hopes to get a flat.

Allen, who admitted unlawful wounding, was given a two-year community punishment order and ordered to pay his victim £500 compensation.