A CAR salesman assaulted a South Wales Argus photographer outside a court just half an hour after being handed a suspended sentence, a court heard today.

Today, James Morris, 37, of Hafod Road, Ponthir, was back before Newport Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm against Argus photographer, Jon Bevan.

Morris was given a six month sentence suspended for two years and was given a £1,000 fine, ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to Mr Bevan and to pay £1,000 prosecution costs.

He will complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a three month curfew which means he must remain at his home address from 10pm to 6am.

A second charge of making a threat to kill Mr Bevan will remain on his file.

The incident happened on November 29 last year, when Morris received a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of being concerned in the supply of a class C drug, and three counts of observing a person doing a private act, at a court hearing on November 5, 2013. It was witnessed by then Argus reporter Emma Mackintosh.

Today, the court heard how Morris, a BMW salesman, left the front of the court building and spotted Mr Bevan at the bottom of the court steps.

He made his way aggressively towards him shouting for Mr Bevan to delete any photographs and swearing.

Prosecutor Julian Greenwood explained how Morris lunged at the camera which was attached to Mr Bevan by a strap.

Morris yanked at it pulling Mr Bevan to the ground saying if he didn’t delete the pictures then he would smash it into his head.

Taking the camera, Morris returned to the court building leaving Mr Bevan shocked, before coming back outside, demanding that Mr Bevan got the film out of the camera.

Mr Greenwood said: “There is then physical confrontation outside of the court and it turned into a tug of war over the camera as Mr Bevan tried to get it back.”

During this Mr Bevan’s finger was fractured, for which he had to have an operation, and he received a blow to the face in what Mr Greenwood called a “repeated assault”.

David Leathley, for Morris, described his client as “foolish” and “reeling from the shame of his loss of reputation”.

He said that Morris is the “same man child” as comedian Tommy Cooper and that his behaviour was “impetuous”.

Judge William Gaskell said Mr Morris acted like a “brash bully” towards a press photographer who was providing a public service, adding “the reality is that you’re a persistent offender”.

After sentencing he added: “You’re very lucky not to have gone to prison today.

“You have had your chance but you won’t have another”.

The court was reminded of the details of the case on November 29, when Morris had been at a party with a bottle of the class C drug GHB. Two men whom he gave the substance to were rendered unconscious, so Morris dropped them off near the Royal Gwent hospital.

Upon arrest his iPhone was seized and analysed and three voyeuristic images of women taken over the top of a toilet cubicle were found.

From this case, he was subject to supervision for 18 months and ordered to complete 60 hours unpaid work, as well as signing on to the sex offender’s register for seven years.

After today's hearing Argus editor Kevin Ward said: “This was a traumatic and distressing incident for two Argus journalists going about their lawful business.

“Some people do not like the idea that a court appearance almost inevitably leads to publicity in the media.

“I hope this case sends a clear message that assaulting people doing their jobs is utterly unacceptable. This is a very rare incident, but we will not hesitate to report people to the police in similar circumstances.”