IPSWICH: A professional cricketer was hit over the head with a hammer by an angry neighbour who accused him of playing his music too loud, a court has heard.

Jay Molewa was in his flat in Burlington Road, Ipswich, in the early hours of the morning when Lee Harris, who lived in the flat beneath him, knocked at his door, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Harris grabbed Mr Molewa by the throat with one hand and hit him above his right eyebrow with a hammer, said Robert Sadd prosecuting.

Mr Molewa fell back into his bathroom, smashing a window and he and Mr Harris had then grappled on the floor.

After Harris left his flat Mr Molewa realised he was bleeding and called an ambulance. As a result of the hammer blow he suffered a 1cm cut and had been left with a small scar.

Mr Sadd said that as a result of the attack Mr Molewa was unable to play cricket for several weeks.

Harris, 35, admitted unlawfully wounding Mr Molewa in May and was jailed for 16 months.

Sentencing him Judge Peter Thompson said Harris had taken a hammer from his flat upstairs to Mr Molewa’s flat and had attacked him with it. He said Harris was lucky the blow hadn’t fractured Mr Molewa’s skull.

Judge Thompson said that Mr Molewa, who is going to be playing professional cricket in South Africa, had suffered headaches and problems with his vision as a result of the attack.

Mr Sadd told the court there had been long running ill feeling on the part of Harris towards Mr Molewa about him playing his music too loud late at night.

Warwick Aleeson, for Harris, said his client had problems with drink and drugs in the past and had been addicted to cannabis.

However, he had stopped using cannabis two years ago and his life had been going well until the attack on Mr Molewa.

Mr Aleeson said Harris accepted losing his temper and was sorry for what he had done.