An antiques dealer hit a teenager with his metal walking stick in what a judge described as a “dreadful” drunken attack, after catching him apparently smoking cannabis outside his house.

Alan Cox, 47, admitted striking the 18-year-old man over the head with the stick in Idle Road, Undercliffe, after returning from the pub, where he was said to have drunk 11 pints of lager.

The victim received a three to four inch cut to his head, which required three stitches at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Prosecutor Louise Pryke told Bradford Crown Court yesterday Cox had returned home from the pub at about 9pm on April 10 to find two youths smoking in the cobbled street at the back of his house.

He believed the pair were smoking cannabis and swore at them to tell them to move on.

He then entered his house and returned with the metal walking stick and struck one of the men on his head, causing him to fall into a wall.

The victim, thought to be a neighbour of Cox, was said to have been left “badly shaken” by the incident.

Cox was described to the court as an antiques dealer who made his living by attending fairs and car boot sales.

The court heard that when interviewed by police, he admitted striking the man, saying he was sure that the “lad was smoking drugs in my yard”.

He had pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and the possession of an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court.

In mitigation, Cox’s lawyer, Nigel Jameson, described his client’s behaviour as “significantly out of character”.

But Judge Peter Benson said: “This was a dreadful and gratuitous piece of violence, and I don’t think you have any insight into the seriousness of what you did.”

Imposing a 12-month community order, with a year’s supervision and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement, Judge Benson added: “I advise you to drastically reduce your consumption of alcohol.”

Cox was also ordered to pay £250 in compensation, with a surcharge of £60, and told to attend a victim awareness course.