A deputy council leader has been convicted of assault after councillors clashed at a disability awareness event.

Gravesham councillor John Knight (Ind) assaulted Kent County Councillor Bryan Sweetland (Con) at the event last year.

The second part of a trial, that started last November, was heard at Medway Magistrates' Court on Friday.

Knight, 65, of Downs Road, Istead Rise, was found guilty by three magistrates after the court was told he'd pushed Mr Sweetland into a wheelchair and grabbed his neck on Friday, May 18.

After the incident Knight was held in a police station for 14 hours before being charged.

At the beginning of the trial the court heard of a growing animosity between the two then Tory councillors stemming from a disagreement between Mr Sweetland and Gravesham council leader David Turner.

Speaking in court as a witness for Knight, Mr Turner said in his role as a council leader he had continuously raised money for the town.

"Mr Sweetland looked very shocked, he was not doing anything, he was aghast as to what this guy was doing..." - eyewitness Nicholas White

On one occasion he received a donation of £10,000 from a group of unnamed developers, back in November.

The same developers had previously stated interest in building on land opposite Mr Turner's home, which is near Mr Sweetland's and Knight's, in Downs Road.

Mr Turner then claimed Cllr Sweetland accused him of being corrupt and told him: "You're on the take."

This is how, according to Knight, the incident started in May, with Mr Sweetland allegedly branding the deputy councillor a "coward" and "corrupt".

In November Knight, told the court he was walking through Parrock Street car park, Gravesend, with fellow councillor and former mayor Harold Craske when he heard Mr Sweetland say: "Knight, you're a coward."

He told him he didn't want to speak to him and, when Mr Sweetland repeated the jibe, added he was taking it further.

"Bryan then got incredibly close to me with his nose almost touching mine and said 'you take it forward you'll see where it gets you'."

The former prison guard said he had mobility issues with his knees, which was proven by a letter from his GP, making it difficult for him to move away, so he then raised his arms while holding the clip board in order to open up space between the pair.

"I'm a very calm, patient person," he told the court, adding that during 33 years in the prison service, which had seen him work with the likes of Britain's most dangerous man Charles Bronson, he had never lost his temper.

Nicholas White, who witnessed part of the fracas, said he saw Mr Sweetland stumbling backwards with Knight's hand on his chest.

"John Knight is a good family man..." - Gravesham mayor David Hurley

He said if it hadn't been for a woman from the Kent Association for the Blind nudging Mr Sweetland as he fell he would have probably ended up on the floor.

Mr White said: "Mr Sweetland looked very shocked, he was not doing anything, he was aghast as to what this guy was doing.

"You could see Mr Knight's fingers going at Mr Sweetland's throat. He then squeezed for about 10 seconds.

"He then stopped, stepped back and said 'I was tripped' or words to that effect."

But Tom Dunn, defending, suggested Mr White's version of events had been influenced by Mr Sweetland telling him in the immediate aftermath that he had been strangled.

"I may have glasses but I'm not blind," replied Mr White.

Last week the court heard from Gravesham mayor David Hurley, who described Knight as a "good family man".

Mr Hurley told the court he was standing close to Mr Sweetland at the event when he heard a loud sound to his left. He turned but his view was "obstructed by a map of Gravesham", before seeing Mr Sweetland sat in a wheelchair saying "oh, oh, oh," which he described as "theatrical".

Knight also received character references from Mr Turner, Mr Craske and two former prison colleagues Gary Sillifant and Paul Carroll.

After three-and-a-half hours of deliberation the magistrates found Knight guilty "beyond reasonable doubt" of assaulting Mr Sweetland.

He was given a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay £640 in costs, including a £20 victim surcharge, within 28 days.