Violent Peter Owens – who was on a suspended sentence at the time of the incident – was told that the starting point for his "premeditated attack with a weapon" was anything between two and four years.

But a judge gave him just 15 months.
His sheer bulk has led to him having problems with diabetes, angina, incontinence, septicemia, ulcers and tumours.

The world of Peter Owens - Click to read

Owens, who once pocketed £2,000 a month in benefits and proudly boasted of spending 18 hours a day watching a "beauty" of a 42inch widescreen telly, was given 15 months when he appeared at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

Owens, who uses crutches and a wheelchair, sat in the middle of the court between barristers and court officers as his health meant he was unable to go into the dock area where defendants usually stand.

After being sentenced, special arrangements were made for him to be transported from the court to jail.



The court heard that the 38-year-old, who had been convicted of two assaults and carrying an offensive weapon during the incident in August 2007, needed constant care and feared he would die in jail.

Paul Cleasby, defending, said: "He has attended court full of dread and fear.

"He is on an inordinate amount of medication, and has spent the last week in hospital.

"He is anxious that he will not get the care in a custodial environment that he gets at home where he has to be constantly monitored, even while asleep.

"He fears his life will be at risk."

Judge Peter Armstrong said: "You present a sentencing problem in that these are serious offences, and have to result in a custodial sentence.

"I am going to reduce the sentence considerably because of what I have read about you.

"I'm going to go outside the guidelines because of the health problems you have and the effect a custodial sentence will have on you."

Owens, a father-of-three and stepfather-of-four, of Holt Street, Hartlepool, who the court heard has dozens of convictions on his record dating back to 1987, was told that he would be released after serving half of the 15-month sentence.

During the trial in November last year, one of the victims, Leslie Surtees, described how he was attacked by Owens.

Mr Surtees, who is in his early 20s, was playing computer games with a male friend when a car screeched up outside the house in Furness Street, Hartlepool.

Owens burst in and began to attack him with a baseball bat while he sat on a sofa.

Mr Surtees told the jury: "He took the bat above his head and shoulders and hit me on the right side of my head. It hurt and I started bleeding all over."

The second victim suffered minor injuries in the attack.