A 57-year-old man who broke an archaeologist's nose while walking his dog has been sentenced to 12 months behind bars.

Terry Stockwell, of Astrop Lane, Oxford, admitted he ‘may have gone too far’ after beating Paul Murray following an altercation on June 2 last year.

Stockwell had initially denied one count of GBH, but eventually changed his plea on the first day of trial in October.

A sentencing hearing at Oxford Crown Court today heard how the pair had clashed while out walking their dogs in a park in Littlemore one Saturday morning.

The court was told Stockwell had confronted 52-year-old Mr Murray about his dog not being on a lead, before a violent scuffle broke out.

Mr Murray, an archaeologist from Oxford, told the investigation he had no memory of what had happened other than ‘waking up in a pool of blood’.

He was left with injuries including four lacerations as well as a broken nose.

However, after handing himself in to police, Stockwell had claimed there had been an element of self defence, though he admitted to officers at the time that he ‘may have gone too far’, according to his solicitor Graham Bennet.

Sentencing Judge Ian Pringle QC said pictures of his victim following the assault were ‘pretty horrific’.

Addressing Stockwell, Judge Pringle said: “You hit him so hard you broke his nose and caused subsequent scarring that will be with him for the rest of his life.

“It was a vicious attack for no necessary reason.”

Considering an 18 month jail term, he suggested: “I will be failing in my duty if I were not to pass such a sentence in this case.”

However the sentence was reduced to 12 months in prison after taking into account Stockwell’s guilty plea as well as his age and poor health.