A CHAIR and punches were thrown during a fight in a social club as a long-running family feud escalates, a court has heard.

Craig Carr pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence after he walked into the Craghead Social Club, in Stanley, County Durham, and threw a chair at another man.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard this week how Carr, 34, had been caught on CCTV attacking the man in the club and punching him with enough force to throw him over the bar.

The pair were separated by other men in the club on June 24, and Paul Anderson, prosecuting, told the court that in October, Carr broke two windows at two properties in Stanley in connection to an ongoing feud.

Mr Anderson said: “Last month, [Carr] has entered Standerton Terrace in Stanley and began shouting for a fight.

“He began kicking the back door of a property and threw a bicycle at it. He leaves the scene and returns with a glass bottle and throws it at a downstairs window that smashes.

“He throws a small turtle ornament at another window and that also smashes.”

The court heard Carr had been trying to seek out the man involved in the fight earlier in the year, but one of the windows he smashed belonged to a stranger.

Carr’s solicitor, Dave Malone, said: “Some money was stolen from Mr Carr’s father by members of another family. The situation has escalated and he has sustained head injuries after being hit with an axe.

“He’s moved to a different area of Stanley, but there have been further incidents and the pair are still coming into contact.

“The incident in the social club was caught on CCTV, but prior to that fight inside, Mr Carr says he was attacked by an individual outside and that’s how it started.”

A probation report was produced ahead of the 34-year-old's sentencing, which recommended 15 rehabilitation activity days. Carr was given a 12-month community order and will pay an £85 victim surcharge.