TWO brothers have been jailed for attacking other drinkers at a pub.

Matthew Sowden, 36, was jailed for two years for smashing a pool cue across the head of Wayne Bennett.

His brother, Karl, 38, was jailed for eight months for punching Mr Bennett and his friend, David Ainsley.

Karl Sowden had four months added to his sentence after he admitted sexually assaulting a bus driver.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday how Karl Sowden had got a late-night bus from Darlington town centre to an outlying housing estate on January 6.

After all the other passengers got off, and because the bus was early, the driver pulled to the side of the road for five minutes and asked Sowden if he wanted a cigarette.

Richard Bennett, prosecuting, said Sowden repeatedly asked the driver if he could have sex with her, groped her and tried to kiss her.

The driver tried to reject his advances and warned him he would be caught on closed-circuit television cameras, but he replied: "They don't f***ing work, anyway."

Sowden's barrister, David Lamb, described his client's behaviour as "a drunken prank that went too far" after he had been invited on to the steps of the bus for a cigarette.

Mr Lamb said: "He misread that as a signal that in some bizarre way she was interested in him."

The security camera pictures were examined by the police and Sowden - who has a substantial criminal record and was described by Mr Lamb as "a pest" - was identified.

In March, the brothers were in the Highland Laddie, Haughton Green, and started trouble with a group of men drinking there.

Karl Sowden asked Mr Bennett if he wanted a fight and, as the pair were talking, Matthew Sowden smashed the heavy end of a pool cue across the man's head, causing a three-inch cut.

Mr Bennett and his friends ran from the pub after Karl Sowden joined in the attack, and the brothers threw beer glasses at them before chasing them down the street.

Karl Sowden, of Greenbank Road, Darlington, admitted affray, and Matthew Sowden, of Broadway South, Darlington, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Defence barrister Chris Baker said it was not a pre-meditated attack and alcohol was the sole reason for the violence.