A heating engineer grabbed the arm and spat in the eye of a photographer who was taking pictures of him and his wife leaving a court building.

David Hoskin was found guilty of an assault by beating that left freelance photographer Andy Jones “scared” and with bruises to his arm.

The court heard Hoskin left Maidstone Magistrates Court alongside wife Angela in July last year when he spotted Mr Jones, who was working for the Kent Messenger, on the other side of the road.

The court also heard Hoskin’s daughter, Rebecca Hoskin, 20, who had been supporting her parents that day, saw Mr Jones taking pictures and was the first to cross the road to ask if he had taken any pictures of her.

Mr Jones said Hoskin then walked through the Peugeot garage opposite the court in Palace Avenue, approached him from behind, grabbed his right arm and “immediately” spat in his right eye.

He said Hoskin prevented him from getting away and made threats to stab him – claims the defendant denied.

“You don’t expect to find yourself in that situation,” Mr Jones told Maidstone Magistrates Court.

“Photographing people, it does come with the territory a bit, but you just don’t expect it to happen to you.”

Following the altercation, both men walked to Maidstone Police Station, next door to the court, and Hoskin was arrested.

Bruising to Andrew Jones’ right arm could be seen in photographs taken at the police station.

Hoskin denied grabbing the claimant and alleged after approaching the photographer to ask what he was taking pictures of, Mr Jones gave him “quite a strong blow” to the side of his head with the back of his camera while holding the lens, causing him to stumble and fall.

He said he then took Mr Jones to the police station to perform a citizen’s arrest.

The prosecution argued the account had been fabricated to fit the facts, Hoskin’s allegation of being hit by a camera was not mentioned in previous statements and no signs of an injury had been recorded.

The prosecution also successfully argued for a previous actually bodily harm conviction from 2010 against a bailiff to be brought to magistrates’ attention in order to counter a “false impression” given by Hoskin that it was not in his nature to make threats.

While being questioned in court, Mr Jones, who denied the allegation, said his camera was worth £8,000 and was his “livelihood”.

According to an excerpt from a PC’s notebook, while in custody Hoskin lost feeling on his right side and officers called him an ambulance.

The 58-year-old, of Highland Road, Maidstone, spent the next four days at Maidstone Hospital, where he was found to have suffered a stroke, his second following another in 2012.

The father of four and grandfather of three was given a 30-day custodial sentence to be served at the same time as a two-year prison sentence given at Maidstone Crown Court in July for submitting false VAT returns and cheating the public revenue out of almost £94,000.

He must also pay Mr Jones £120 compensation. Prosecution costs were waived due to his imprisonment.