A chef assaulted his housemate in an argument over a smashed plate.

Ashley Joshua Joseph Todd, 35, and the victim lived together for three years before the incident that landed Todd in the dock of York Crown Court.

“It was the culmination of aggravation between two men living cheek by jowl in small accommodation and it blew up into this,” said the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris.

“You were at the end of your tether,” he told Todd.

"I am not saying the complainant is to blame."

Todd, of Aviator Court, Clifton Moor, York, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

He was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months on condition he does 300 hours' unpaid work.

The judge said Todd would have been locked up in prison had he not pleaded guilty.

Michael Bosomworth, prosecuting, said the victim had the tenancy of the flat.

Todd had moved in first on a temporary basis and then on a permanent basis.

But in the days leading up to the incident, “considerable” difficulties developed between the two.

"There was a deal of unpleasantness between them," he said.

The victim worked at a pub.

On May 29, 2019, he stayed on at the pub after he finished his shift to drink with friends.

When he arrived home, he knocked over a table and smashed a plate.

Todd was already in bed and asleep, and not wanting to wake him, or a child, who was also sleeping in the flat, the victim didn't clear up the mess.

When Todd woke up the next morning, he was furious when he saw the mess.

He "stormed" into the victim's bedroom and said: "I am going to kill you."

They gave differing accounts to police of the violence that followed and the involvement of a hammer.

The victim suffered a black eye and a cut and swelling to his face, said Mr Bosomworth.

In a personal statement, the victim said he couldn't work for some time after the incident because of the injury.

The black eye had affected his work because he had direct contact with members of the public.

For Todd, Taryn Turner said: "The defendant is contrite, he is remorseful."

He pleaded guilty on the basis he had gone too far when defending himself.

He had been out of trouble in the nearly two years since the incident.

He has a stable relationship with a woman.

He was confident he would get work at a golf club when it reopened after the current lockdown.