A Good Samaritan who intervened after seeing a man hit a woman suffered a badly broken leg after falling to the ground while the two men were scuffling, a court heard.

Michal Everett, who had gone to the Links Road car park in Lowestoft to walk his dog, underwent four operations on his leg and needed a skin graft. He also had metal rods inserted in his leg and an external fixator attached to it to help it heal, Ipswich Crown Court heard. Before the court was James Dundon, 34, of Dagenham, who admitted wounding Mr Everett on June 15 last year.

Jailing him for 23 months Judge John Devaux said it was unclear precisely how the injury to Mr Everett's leg was caused and the prosecution accepted it was reckless rather than deliberate.

'The reason he (Mr Everett) became involved in the first place was because, as he saw it, he was trying to stop you assaulting a woman, your partner.'

Charles Myatt, prosecuting, said Mr Everett had approached Dundon after seeing him punch a woman twice in the face.

'He was incensed by what he saw and went over to the defendant,' said Mr Myatt. There was a verbal altercation between the men and when Mf Everett got out of his car there was a exchange of blows during which Mr Everett ended up on his back on the ground with Dundon on top of him.

Dundon had then grabbed his head and banged it on the ground causing a 2cm cut.

In a victim statement Mr Everett said he had undergone four operations in his leg in 11 days as a result of the incident and had come within two minutes of having his leg amputated. He said he now needed a wheelchair or crutches to get around and in addition to his physical injuries he had also suffered mental stress.

Steven Dyble, for Dundon, said his client had not intended to cause the serious injury suffered by Mr Everett. He said Dundon, who has six children, had been on holiday in Lowestoft and had acted out of character during the incident with his wife.