A FATHER who attacked a man after finding his daughter in what he thought was a crack den has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Peter McDonnell, of Stowford Road, Barton, was found guilty after a trial of wounding Richard Brown with intent on the evening of May 2 last year.

Judge Peter Ross said the 55-year-old had found out his daughter Jazzmin was at a flat in Brome Place, Barton, and went to find her.

He said McDonnell was drunk and had a “fraught” relationship with his teenage daughter, leading to an argument outside the flat.

Judge Ross told the defendant: “She is a young woman who is clearly able to look after herself, but you believed that it was, to use your words, ‘a crack den’.

“It is undoubtedly true that that some of those present were drug users. Mr Brown himself had been a drug user, although he had not used on that day.

“You demanded to know if Jazzmin was there, and she went to meet you outside. Voices were raised and the two of you were screaming at each other. Mr Brown was urged to go out and see what was happening, and when he did you headbutted him in the nose.

“He staggered backwards, bleeding from the nose, and started to seek to defend himself with a short stick he used to play with his dog. He struck you on the knuckles and arms – he was very frightened and you were very angry.”

Judge Ross said the two men were wrestling with each other when McDonnell threw his victim to the ground.

He said the defendant then picked up the same curtain pole he had been struck with earlier, which had a nail or screw sticking out of it, and hit Mr Brown on the head. It caused an “L-shaped gash” that had left a scar.

He told McDonnell: “The effect on him has been significant. He has had to leave his home and go and live with a family member because he is frightened of you.”

Daren Samat, defending, said his client had not been aware there was anything sticking out of the pole when he used it.

He said McDonnell had been acting out of concern for his daughter but the “situation escalated way beyond what it should have done”.

Sentencing him at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ross said the offence was aggravated by a previous conviction McDonnell has for manslaughter.