A young father-to-be who struck a drunk man with a socket wrench in a road rage attack has avoided being locked up.

Gary Treeby became angry after he swerved to avoid Daniel Rixson as he stood in the road.

A friend was trying to sober up the victim in a Maidstone street at about 9.30pm on April 1 this year.

There was an exchange of words between them before the 19-year-old dog handler stopped his van, got out and lost his temper.

Prosecutor Shanda McAteer told Maidstone Crown Court Treeby struck Mr Rixson on the forehead with a bar from the socket set and then drove off.

But his registration number was taken and he was arrested.

The victim needed 25 stitches in a cut above his eyebrow and has been left with scarring.

Treeby, of Broadview Farm, Lidsing, near Gillingham, denied wounding with intent and his plea to the less serious charge of unlawful wounding was accepted.

The teenager, whose father, also Gary, 46, was shot in the leg when his brother was murdered in a family vendetta in Quarry Road, Maidstone, in 2009, was said to have a reprimand for assault causing actual bodily harm when he was 11.

He told a probation officer he saw Mr Rixson arguing with another motorist and lost his temper after hearing a bang on the side of his van.

Danny Moore, defending, said Treeby, who is due to become a father in February, allowed his anger to “get away with him”.

Treeby, he added, was not looking for trouble at the time and the attack was out of character.

His mitigation was the "holy trinity" of age, a guilty plea and previous good character.

Sentencing Treeby to 18 months youth custody suspended for two years, Judge Martin Joy said the wound would be a visible reminder to the victim for the rest of his life.

But he added he was able to avoid imposing immediate custody.

As part of the sentence, Treeby will have to complete 150 hours unpaid work and stay indoors for four months from 8pm to 6am under a tagged curfew.

Judge Joy said if compensation was an issue it should be dealt with by the county court.