A YORK father-of-two who was fined after fracturing the wrist of a stone-throwing boy has spoken of his regret over the incident.

Nigel Baxter, 27, formerly of Constantine Avenue, Tang Hall, said he never meant to hurt the boy, but wanted to frighten him after large stones were thrown at his house while his two sons, aged one and two, were sleeping upstairs.

He said: "The idea was not to hurt him, but to scare him. I had two kids upstairs and I did not know whether the stones would have gone through the window.

"Unfortunately, I hurt the lad's arm and have been rightly fined for it.

"But at the same time in a way it was partly his fault for throwing the stones.

"Next time I will ring the police and I will not go outside. I agree I should not have hurt his arm."

York magistrates heard how Baxter, who had been drinking, confronted youths shortly after 8.30pm, on July 15, outside his home.

He grabbed hold of an 11-year-old, who cannot be named, and pushed his arm behind his back and he suffered a buckle fracture. He let go at the request of the boy's mother.

Baxter's solicitor, Martin Hawes, read out a statement by a neighbour who said the youths had caused problems for 18 months.

On the night in question she saw a group of youths, including the boy, by phone boxes on the avenue skimming stones at vehicles. Two youths picked bricks and started throwing them at Baxter's house.

He came out to tell them to stop and when the 11-year-old victim threw a stone, Baxter grabbed him.

The boy's older brother threw a brick which hit Baxter on the side of the face. Then a brick and a bicycle were thrown at him.

York magistrates rejected the CPS's request that Baxter pay compensation to the neighbourhood nuisance for the injury.

"The situation was brought by the victim to a large extent by his own actions," said senior magistrate Peter Hogarth.

"This is a serious offence. There is no question about it that we do take it very seriously.

"It is an fairly exceptional situation. There was a serious degree of provocation at the time and in the background circumstances leading up to this particular incident."

Dr Hogarth said the usual penalty was at least community rehabilitation or community punishment plus compensation, but magistrates reduced the sentence to a £400 fine, plus £55 costs and did not order compensation.

Baxter pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

Updated: 10:56 Thursday, August 21, 2003