A man who assaulted a doctor who had come to visit his girlfriend's mother has been sent to prison for three months.

Beaucham Crawford, 42, of Bardfield Road, Rayleigh, denied common assault on Dr Colin Donnelly, of the Riverside Medical Clinic.

But he was found guilty and was sentenced at Basildon Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

The court heard how Dr Donnelly recommended that the girlfriend's mother go to hospital for treatment but that she didn't want to.

Crawford arrived on the scene and became aggressive and when the doctor tried to leave through the back door, slammed the door against his arm.

The doctor made it outside but Crawford followed him and attacked him. The assault only stopped when a neighbour helped out.

Dr Donnelly suffered a sore wrist, a scratched stomach and a ripped shirt.

Sentencing him, magistrate Jackie Cummins said: "I take a very serious view of this matter - a doctor on his rounds seeing his patients is entitled to feel safe."

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