AN Evesham man who bit a mother and punched her teenage daughter in the face was spared jail after the girl wrote to court saying he was a 'kind' man.

John Ferriman, aged 37, had previously admitted one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on the mother, and one of common assault, on the girl.

Abbey Kingston, prosecuting, told Worcester Magistrates Court on Thursday that the incident took place after the defendant had been drinking.

The woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was pushed against a wall.

Miss Kingston said: "She tried to push him away and he pushed her, grabbed her with both hands and bit her on the scalp.

"He then kicked her shins and calves. The girl started to scream and he punched her in the face."

Karen Brady, defending Ferriman, of Rightons Court, Evesham, said the man worked long hours as a cleaner to support his own family.

As the sole breadwinner, she said his family would suffer if he were sent to prison.

"Outside child benefit his earnings are their only source of income," said Ms Brady. "It is very difficult to know what would happen to his family if a custodial sentence was imposed."

Deputy District Judge Goodman said that because Ferriman had been told not to expect jail during a previous hearing, 'it would be wrong' to change that expectation.

He added that a letter sent by the teenage victim to the court had also persuaded him.

"You are nothing short of a louse for the way you have behaved yet this girl calls you a kind man," he said. "You should read this letter outside of court."

Ferriman was handed a two-year community order to 'rehabilitate and reform' him, and warned by the judge: "If you come back for a similar offence, you will go to prison."