THE SON of a rogue plumber dragged his father out of bed and kicked him in the face during a drunken attack.

Ian Leaf, 54, narrowly escaped a spell in jail in early March after York magistrates heard of his substandard and potentially lethal work in people's homes.

But shortly after midnight on April 14, Christopher Leaf, 30, burst through his father's bedroom door and kicked him in the face.

The son's solicitor, Jane Maloney, said: "He had been drinking and comments had been said to him regarding his father's behaviour.

"It was his father's behaviour that led to him becoming distressed and having to put up with comments from people."

The son, of Stamford Street East, Leeman Road, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to his father.

He was ordered to do 100 hours' of unpaid work and pay £200 compensation to his father, plus £500 in prosecution costs.

York magistrates told him he could not take the law into his own hands.

Prosecutor Jane Chadwick said Ian Leaf was in bed when his son attacked him. He suffered minor injuries.

She said: "As Ian Leaf started to get up, the son grabbed hold of him and slapped him round the ear.

"He tried to get away from the son, but was punched by the son which caused him to fall to the floor. While on the floor, he was kicked in the face by Christopher Leaf, who was wearing trainers."

The father later tried to stop his son being prosecuted, but was forced to go to court as a witness against him.

Miss Maloney said the attack was out of character.

Christopher Leaf's mother had been caught in the middle between the two men. The court heard she had been through a traumatic time, first from the father's court case and attendant publicity and then from the prosecution of her son.

In March, Ian Leaf, of Howard Drive, Clifton, got a six-month suspended prison sentence on condition he did 150 hours' of unpaid work after he admitted three charges of breaching a prohibition order relating to work in three houses.

York Magistrates Court heard that he didn't have the workmanship or knowledge to comply with current gas safety regulation.

He had failed to ensure adequate ventilation in one kitchen and not insulated a pipe sufficiently as a precaution against fumes possibly leaking into a room.