A drug dealer’s younger brother has avoided joining him in prison, despite beating a cyclist round the head with a hammer.

Nathaniel Baldry admitted wounding another man near his Beaconsfield Road address, in Lowestoft, at about 6.50pm on the evening of April 24.

Appearing at Ipswich Crown Court on Tuesday, the 20-year-old also pleaded guilty to carrying an offensive weapon in a public place.

A witness saw the attack from the driver’s seat of her car after slowing down to pass the cyclist.

Prosecutor Nneka Akudolu said Baldry ran in front of the vehicle and leapt on the cyclist’s back.

“The witness realised the defendant was holding a hammer and making contact with the other male’s head,” she added.

“The victim tried to get away but the defendant continued to grab at him – making contact wherever possible. He managed to get up but was followed by the defendant, who was still lashing out towards him.”

The attack ended when Baldry’s victim ran into a nearby shop to take refuge – but he later refused to cooperate with police.

“To this day, the victim has not been interested in making a statement,” said Miss Akudolu.

Baldry was identified on CCTV and arrested at his address, where police found the hammer used in the attack.

Phillip Farr, mitigating, said Baldry had no history of violence – last appearing in court for drug-driving in 2017.

He said the victim was “no more than walking wounded” and well enough to remonstrate with Baldry from the shop door.

Judge Martyn Levett told Baldry he could have endangered other road users as a result of the attack, which may have been retribution for a “drug-related incident” or a response to being told someone was “out to cause trouble in the vicinity”.

“You have to disassociate yourself from these reprisals – if this is what it was,” he added, before sentencing Baldry to 17 months in custody, suspended for two years.

“There seems a lot more benefit in steering you away from criminality and putting work back into the community,” he concluded, adding 150 hours of unpaid work to Baldry’s sentence, with 30 days of rehabilitation and a three-month home curfew.

The court heard how Baldry’s older brother was currently serving a prison sentence for drug offences.