A MAN had to dive under his fridge-freezer to dodge blows rained down on him by an attacker who burst into his home, a court heard.

Magistrates were told Sean Roberts watched Peter Berry crouch down under the partly toppled-over appliance, kicked him in the ribs and jumped up and down on his ankle.

Peter Parson, prosecuting at Droitwich Magistrates' Court, said Roberts burst into Mr Berry's kitchen in Brickfields on Sunday, December 16.

"He was on the floor in the kitchen when the man that must have been Sean Roberts shouted, 'you're not so big now, are you'," he added.

"Mr Berry stayed under the fridge-freezer, lying on his side.

"The same man kicked him in the ribs.

"Although he was sheltering under the fridge to protect himself, his legs were exposed.

"Sean Roberts then started stamping on his ankle, saying, 'I'll break it'."

But Roberts, from Tunnel Hill, Tolladine, failed to make enough contact with the 53-year-old's legs and he escaped with "tenderness" to his ribs.

Mr Berry admitted later his legs "appeared to be OK".

Roberts denied he had anything to do with the beating when police interviewed him later.

But at yesterday's hearing, the 23-year-old admitted assault.

Barry Newton, defending, warned magistrates that Roberts had only pleaded guilty on the basis that he had lashed out once.

"He kicked Mr Berry once in the area of his ankle," he said.

"Once, and once only, and then left.

"He denies vehemently that he was responsible for anything else that Mr Berry suggested he did."

Magistrates adjourned Roberts' case to Thursday, January 31, so a date for a Newton Hearing - where prosecution and defence discrepancies can be ironed out - could be fixed.