A father who took brutal revenge after hearing his daughter had been assaulted by her boyfriend has escaped a jail sentence.

Garry Field gave Garth Murphy "a considerable beating", breaking his jaw and cheekbone, as he awoke from a drinking session.

But he walked free after a judge decided he was not a danger "to the public at large".

Recorder Neil Cameron also took into consideration that 46-year-old Field had mental health issues and that his daughter would lose their home in Cliffe Woods if he were sent to prison.

Wearing an eye patch, Mr Murphy told a jury in April he and Field's daughter Jade had been drinking heavily and she taunted him while watching the nude TV dating programme Naked Attraction.

"She started making derogatory remarks about body size, penis size and things like that - very immature remarks," he said.

"There was a bit of an argument. It was getting hot and heavy. I could see it was taking a turn for the worse. I went upstairs to get away and lay in her bed.”

He went back downstairs in the early hours of August 16 2016 and they clashed again.

He claimed she scratched his face and he hit her twice in self-defence.

He later admitted common assault. He went back to bed and awoke to an attack by Field.

"I was on death’s doorstep... I was lying in a pool of blood" - Garth Murphy

“My face was damaged,” he said.

“It was smashed on one side. I was moaning and groaning. Garry came back in and started going to work on me again, punching and kicking me.”

He claimed Field’s friend Alex Lynam was pinning him down.

“I couldn’t do anything,” he said.

“I was dazed and disorientated. Garry came back in and gave me another dig.

“The other guy backed away. I think he could see I’d had enough. His friend was going too far. He was pulling him off, trying to stop him.

“I was on death’s doorstep. I was lying in a pool of blood. They were calling me scumbag for hitting a woman, but they didn’t get the full story.”

Garth was taken to King' College Hospital in London and treated for his injuries.

He was paralysed on the right side of his face.

“I can’t smile anymore,” he said.

"I have got eight sheets of titanium and screws holding them together.”

Prosecutor Ed Fowler said when Field burst into the bedroom he screamed: “Hit my daughter? What the ---- do you think you are doing giving it the biggun?”

After the attack, he told Mr Murphy: “You are lucky the ambulance and police are on the way otherwise you would be ------ dead tonight.”

Field, of Town Road, Cliffe Woods, and Lynam, of Court Bushes, King George Road, Chatham, denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent and an alternative charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Field was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm and Lynam, 41, was acquitted of both charges.

Field was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

A restraining order banning contact with Mr Murphy was made for five years.