A WELL-BUILT personal trainer attacked a dad as he took his two young children to school, a court heard.

Jailing Paul Nriapia, 55, for nine months at Bradford Crown Court today, Judge Jonathan Rose told him he had taken the law into his own hands and engaged in a serious act of violence.

Prosecutor Caroline Wigin said there was a history between the defendant and the complainant Thomas Padgett.

Mr Padgett was walking his nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son to school, on May 20 last year, when Nriapia stopped his car in Lymington Drive, Holme Wood, Bradford, and approached him.

At first, there was an amicable conversation, but when Mr Padgett turned to check on his children Nriapia hit him in the side of the head.

He went back to his car but then returned and pulled the victim's jacket over his head, and dragged him to the floor while punching him in the head, before leaving in his car.

The victim suffered abrasions but did not need medical treatment.

The court heard Nriapia had a dreadful criminal record, interspersed with offences of significant violence, and his barrister, Ken Green, said his client did not hide from the fact that he had been a professional criminal for many years.

But Mr Green said he had been trouble free for seven years. He had been working as a personal trainer in Halifax Road, Bradford, and in that capacity had assisted a disabled girl, encouraging her to do as well as she could with weightlifting, and had helped with fundraising for her.

Mr Green said Nriapia, who was nicknamed Sinbad, had lived on the Holme Wood estate for most of his life and befriended many people, and thought he was a friend of the complainant.

But the evening before the assault, Mr Padgett had gone to the defendant's address and been aggressive, making threats and being abusive towards his partner.

He had come across him by accident the next morning after dropping his children off at school and lost control of his temper.

Judge Rose told now Nriapia, of Studley Terrace, Halifax: "You are a physically strong man. I am satisfied you got out of the car in the full knowledge either that you wanted violence to happen or knew violence was likely."

The judge said it was a significant aggravating factor that Mr Padgett was walking his children to school when he was attacked.