A WINCHESTER man has been jailed after attacking a man with a hammer.

Stephen Agolini struck Robert Davies over the head in a brawl between men living at the Emmaus homeless project at Bar End.

Fearing further blows, Mr Davies fled the scene outside a warehouse on Bar End Industrial Estate with blood dripping from his face.

He vaulted metal railings and dropped 14 feet onto concrete below, breaking his ankle, the trial at Winchester Crown Court was told.

The trial heard how four men who had met while living at Emmaus met for a drinking session on the night of November 22 last year.

Mr Davies had been living in a tent since being ejected from Emmaus for breaking the arm of fellow resident Christopher Streather in the summer.

Soon after the group met up, a drunken Mr Streather punched Mr Davies and the scrap escalated with Mr Davies, who later told police he had already drunk over two litres of strong cider that day, eventually striking back.

It is at this point that the prosecution alleged fellow drinker Agolini entered the fray, wielding the hammer like a tennis racket.

Agolini, 46, of Bar End Road, initially denied wounding with intent but during the trial changed his plea to guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was jailed for 13 months and told to pay a £100 victim surcharge.