An Ipswich man who repeatedly punched his neighbour after threatening to kill him has been given a suspended prison sentence.

The victim had been watching football on television with a friend in June last year when he heard someone shouting: “I’m going to kill you. You’d better get down here. I’ll go to jail for you,” Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He looked out of a window and saw his neighbour James Vince standing in a car park shouting up at him, said Daniel Setter, prosecuting.

Vince entered his neighbour’s property and went to a room where he was sitting on a sofa and struck him three times to the left side of the head with a clenched fist causing him to fall to the floor.

He then picked the man up and threw him into a coffee table which broke and also damaged an iPhone.

Vince continued to punch the man and at one stage he put his hands round his neck.

Vince, 39, of Swallow Road, Ipswich, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and two offences of criminal damage.

He was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years, a six month alcohol treatment programme and a 40 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also ordered to pay the victim £110 compensation.

Peter Spary for Vince said his client had mental health issues and had stayed out of trouble since his medication had been stabilised.