A haulage firm boss knocked a man unconscious and injured his son with a single punch during a row over a dog.

Bradley Teall "instinctively" hit out at John Rothman and his son Zack after the pair confronted him in Broadstairs.

Teall had pulled up in a street in the North Foreland Heights estate to pick up his own son, who was working on a building site - and in the street there was a dog running loose.

The 50-year-old drove slowly along the road, which was full of contractor vehicles, looking for his son, careful not to drive near the Labradoodle.

But Patricia Rothman, the owner of the dog, shouted at him to wait where he was.

As Teall could clearly see the animal, he moved forward again slowly - but this time Mrs Rothman began banging on his window and shouted in a loud voice: "I told you to f***ing stop."

Teall, who owns Teall Transport in Westbrook, Margate, again drove slowly away and parked up about 30 yards along the road.

At this point Mrs Rothman spoke to her son and then her husband about what had happened and the pair went to confront Teall over the matter.

They approached his vehicle and Teall, who said he was in fear of an attack by the pair, got out and swung a punch at them. The strike knocked John Rothman unconscious, and the same punch also caught Zack with a glancing blow.

Just after, Teall's son arrived at the scene and got into his dad's vehicle and the pair drove away.

John Rothman was left with a fractured nose and a cut below his eye and had to go to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford for treatment, including having his cut stitched up.

Zack Rothman was said to have only suffered a bump to his face during the incident.

Teall, of Bowes Avenue, Margate, was later identified and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating.

He admitted the offences when he appeared before magistrates in the town on Thursday.

The court heard the incident happened on June 28 last year.

Dylan Bradshaw prosecuting said: "The defendant got out of the vehicle and punched both males. In interview he initially defended his actions but now accepts his actions went beyond self-defence.

"Mr Rothman suffered a periorbital edema and stitches to his eye. The son suffered lumps and bumps, but the father suffered obvious injuries and a fracture to the nose. It was a nasty injury, but there was no long-term disfigurement.

"The dad [Mr Rothman] couldn't remember what had happened, and the defendant has no previous convictions."

"He gives a lot of money to charity and had provided a lorry recently to take supplies to Turkey and Syria..."

Ian Bond, defending, told the court his client is not a violent man.

He said Teall had driven at a snail's pace along the road - which was really a cul-de-sac and still a building site - to wait for his son. He had seen the Labradoodle and, being a dog lover, was never going to drive near or injure the animal.

Mr Bond added: "He could see [Mrs Rothman] was connected to the dog and he moved forward slowly to park.

"She banged on his window and said: "I told you to f***ing stop". He drove 30 yards and parked up and saw a lad speaking to the woman in his mirror and then an older man appeared and they approached his vehicle.

"There were two of them and he instinctively punched out. It was a glancing blow to Zack, and most of the blow goes to the dad."

He told the court Teall was clearly remorseful for what had happened and produced several character references for the bench to read before he was sentenced.

Mr Bond added: "He gives a lot of money to charity and had provided a lorry recently to take supplies to Turkey and Syria.

"There was no long-term harm and it was a single blow."

Magistrates accepted Teall may have felt threatened during the incident, but said it was unacceptable to have used such force. They placed him on a 12-month community order which will see him carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

Teall was also ordered to pay John Rothman £500 compensation and £150 compensation to Zack Rothman.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 costs.