A man who answered a knock on the door was attacked in front of his family and suffered serious injuries.

John Roberts ended up on the ground where he was kicked and punched.

Mold Crown Court heard he received a number of injuries including double vision.

Craig John Williams, 34 of Swan Street in Rhos – who lived directly next door to the victim – and his brother Shaun Wayne Williams, 32, of Church Street in Rhosymedre, admitted assault charges following the incident in October of last year.

They received sentences of 12 months imprisonment, but were suspended for two years.

Each was ordered to pay £500 compensation and £340 costs.

The brothers were ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and they were placed on rehabilitation.

The judge, Mr Recorder Simon Mills, said they had come within a millimetre of going to prison and if they breached the order it was likely they would be locked up.

The court heard there had been a neighbour dispute between Mr Roberts and Craig Williams over alleged noise.

Mr Mills said the defendants were both family men in employment who had admitted assault.

The victim had suffered serious injuries.

Craig Williams admitted going to the address looking for trouble and repeatedly punching him, the judge said.

He continued to do so while the victim was on the ground.

Shaun Williams admitted being involved to a lesser extent and accepted he was responsible for three punches only.

It was, the judge said, a thuggish assault on a victim in his own home in front of his partner and child.

Both richly deserved to go to prison but they had shown genuine remorse, both had families and if they went to prison it might worsen the situation between neighbours.

He said it would be best, as the defendant Craig Williams had indicated, if he moved away.

Barrister Jade Tufail, prosecuting, said Craig Williams had been drinking, the Roberts family heard a noise and there had been a verbal exchange between them.

There was a later knock on Mr Roberts' door and he opened it expecting some verbal abuse.

But he was immediately punched and ended up on the floor being punched and kicked.

He was taken to hospital with injuries including trauma to the retina which caused blurred vision.

Treatment for his eye issue was ongoing, the court heard.

Alun Williams, for Shaun Williams, said even though they lived next door to each other there had been no repetition since the incident last October.

He claimed there had been animosity on both sides but since the incident matters had calmed down and both were acting in an adult manner.

It was his client’s plan to move house.

Jo Maxwell, for Craig Williams, said he was visiting his brother and went to assist when he saw his mother involved in a tussle with a neighbour.

When they started fighting he tried to separate them but accepted he punched Mr Roberts' face three times.

His remorse was genuine and he had described the victim as a good bloke.