A violent Suffolk man who knocked a man unconscious by stamping on his head and dropping slabs of concrete from a wall on his face has been jailed for three years.

A shocked passer-by who saw the incident in Fir Lane, Lowestoft, ran over to Neil Maclod and unsuccessfully tried to stop him dropping a second piece of concrete on to Phillip Lawrenson's face as he lay on the ground, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

'She heard the impact and didn't want to look because she was scared what she would see,' said Joanne Eley, prosecuting.

During a telephone call to the police the witness was hysterical and said:'I think he has murdered him,' said Miss Eley.

Mr Lawrenson, who appeared to be unconscious and was bleeding from his mouth, the back of his head and face, was taken to hospital suffering from bruising and cuts.

Macleod, 44, of Mimosa Walk, Lowestoft, admitted wounding Mr Lawrenson on September 6 and an offence of affray on February 18 last year and was jailed for a total of three years.

Sentencing him Recorder Sally O'Neill described what he did to to Mr Lawrenson as ' inexcusable and unjustifiable.'

Also before the court was Adam Hart, 25, of a Mimosa Walk, Lowestoft, who admitted affray on February 18 last year and was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 50 hours unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to pay £250 compensation for damage to a door and a television during the affray.

Miss Eley said that on February 18 Leon Stapleton had been in bed with his girlfriend at their flat in Victoria Terrace, Lowestoft, at about 2.45pm when Macleod kicked open the door to their flat.

Hart had jumped on to the bed and punched Mr Stapleton and when his girlfriend tried to intervene Macleod grabbed hold of her and pulled her away.

Before leaving the flat Hart had knocked over a £350 television and stamped on it.

Miss Eley said Hart and Macleod had been looking for another man who lived in Victoria Terrace and had gone to the wrong address.

She said the wounding happened after Mr Lawrenson asked Macleod to leave a house where he had been drinking with friends in Fir Lane. When Mr Lawrenson left the property he found Macleod blocking his path and the two men ended up grappling with each other.

During the incident Mr Lawrenson went to the ground and was kicked and punched by Macleod who then dropped slabs of concrete from a nearby wall on his face.

Steven Dyble for Macleod said his client had been ejected from the house in Fir Lane by three men, including Mr Lawrenson, after being accused of stealing a mobile phone, which he denied.

There was a fight between him and Mr Lawrenson and Macleod accepted using excessive self defence.' A red mist clearly descended on him,' said Mr Dyble.

Danielle O'Donovan for Hart said her client had been engaging with Mental Health agencies and she urged the court not to send him straight to prison.