A thug who attacked his mother’s partner in a drunken rage has been jailed for 20 months.

Daniel Chandler had previously managed to stay out of prison with courts ordering treatment for his alcohol problem.

But a judge rejected a plea for a similar course to be taken with the 30-year-old, telling him: “I am not going to set you up to fail.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard Chandler, of St Welcumes Way, Harrietsham, had been drinking with Peter Towler on the afternoon of April 22.

They went to Mr Towler’s home in Gravesend. Chandler asked him if he could borrow his phone to call a friend and went into a bedroom to do so.

“A short while later he came out and his mood changed,” said prosecutor Alexia Zimbler. “He was now very aggressive. He shouted at him.

"When you drink you are violent. This was a serious assault. It was sustained and repeated" - Judge Michael Carroll

“He went towards him and headbutted him three or four times before punching him in the face numerous times. He fell to the ground. His head was bleeding.

“He believes he became unconscious. He doesn’t remember receiving injuries to his ribs and back. He believed he had been punched or kicked.”

Mr Towler crawled to the front door and sought help from a neighbour. She went into the house and saw that Chandler was holding a kitchen knife to his throat and vowing to kill himself.

He made another attack on the victim and he again managed to escape to the neighbour. The police were called and Chandler was arrested.

Mr Towler had bruised ribs, a chipped eye socket and needed stitches in his head.

Miss Zimbler said Chandler, who admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, had a similar conviction and others for battery.

Courts had twice ordered alcohol treatment.

Linda Phillips, defending, said Chandler was vulnerable and had severe learning difficulties.

“He needs help or this will keep happening,” she said. “There is a serious risk of self-harm. Prison would be an extremely difficult environment for him.”

Miss Phillips submitted that a probation report recommendation of a suspended sentence could be followed.

Judge Michael Carroll told Chandler: “The real problem here is your drinking. Professionals have worked long and hard with you to minimise the risk to members of the public while allowing you to retain your liberty under the auspices of alcohol treatment.

“Although it is clear you have completed courses in the past, it has not dealt with the underlying problem with your behaviour, which is when you drink you are violent.

“This was a serious assault. It was sustained and repeated. It has got to be custody. I am not going to set you up to fail by giving you a suspended sentence.

“I am absolutely satisfied you will breach it and the next judge has the task of sentencing you for fresh offences and dealing with you for a suspended sentence.”

The judge added: “I am not at all persuaded. The one person responsible for stopping the drink is yourself. I am not going to burden the probation service yet again with another community order.”