A garage boss struck his mum over the head with a Pyrex dish then left her unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

Oxford Crown Court heard that Gareth Chambers, who turned 37 the day before the assault, had begun drinking at the start of the day and was particularly emotional as it was the anniversary of his father’s death.

Prosecutor Christopher Pembridge said Chambers, his mother and his girlfriend had been at the pub on the evening of May 14.

They returned home to Botley, where Chambers and his mother had danced. A favourite piece of music of his dad’s came on the stereo, which ‘triggered’ the defendant.

He began shouting at his mother then pushed her off a chair. His partner attempted to intervene but Chambers got past her, picked up a kitchen dish and struck his mother over the head with it.

The woman was knocked unconscious and came round to find she was ‘covered in blood’, Mr Pembridge told the court. The defendant had left before she came round.

The wound – a gash to her head - was stapled at hospital.

Mitigating, Richard Davies said his client recognised the seriousness of the offence. He had struggled with substance misuse and also the loss of his father and a close friend.

The defendant described his mother as his ‘best friend’. They both ran the garage business that had been in their family for decades and which would be affected if he were sent to custody.

Chambers had contacted addiction charity Turning Point ‘off his own bat’, his barrister said.

Sentencing him to 15 months’ imprisonment suspended for a year and a half, Judge Ian Pringle QC told the Witney man: “It’s said by your mother and by you and by many others this was a one-off. Well, I hope so.

“But it is quite clearly caused because you were drinking too much and that is a problem you need to address.”

As part of his suspended sentence, Chambers must complete a 90 day alcohol abstinence programme and up to 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Although the judge ordered the defendant pay £425 in costs, he said he was not imposing unpaid work as the man already ‘worked extremely hard on his family business’.

Chambers, of The Springs, Witney, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Pringle warned the defendant that if he breached the requirements of the order or committed a further offence the 15 month prison sentence could be activated.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.