A MALVERN man assaulted two people - one of them a 15-year-old boy - after losing his temper during a dispute with a nearby family.

Neil Bozward, aged 34, of Langland Avenue, near Sherrard's Green, became angry after getting into a discussion while walking down the back of a local alleyway.

Bozward thought the family were laughing at him and punched the 15-year old in the face, bruising his lip, before assaulting someone who came to the child's aid.

Mark Johnson, prosecuting, said: "At 10pm on Monday, July 24, the defendant was in an alleyway in Malvern, and got into a dispute with the other party who were sitting in their back garden on a hot summer's day. The two parties knew each other, and there was a dispute because the defendant thought they were laughing at him. While he stood on the other side of the fence arguing, the first person to come over was a 15-year-old, and Bozward reacted by leaning over and punching him in the face, resulting in a bruised lip. Another person then came over and was punched in the chest."

Mark Lister, defending, said the assaults happened because Bozward loaned the family a welding machine and was trying to get it back.

"The two parties are known to each other," he said. "Bozward was walking down the back of an alley after using a telephone, and as he came back up the alley he thought they were laughing at him.

"He struck up a discussion which soon deteriorated. He was trying to recover a welder which he lent to them, and it was clear they were being awkward. Those who made the complaint came towards him, as he was on the other side of the fence, which is when the assault occurred.

"He did have something to drink and has no recollection of punching someone in the mouth, but does concede due to the bruising that it must have happened."

Bozward, who is undergoing alcohol treatment and is unemployed, pleaded guilty. The case was adjourned until Friday, October 13.