A JAIL sentence has been handed to a man who started a fight after the fatherhood of a child was questioned.

Dominic McCairns, 43, was on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with one count of having an offensive weapon and one count of assault by beating.

He was found guilty by a jury of attending Kelvin Chatfield’s address in Shrivenham and beating him with a metal baton over disputes over who is the real father of a teenage boy on May 27, 2022.

READ MORE: Driver jailed for using car while disqualified said he was 'fixing it'

During the trial, it was heard that McCairns believes the eldest child of Mr Chatfield is his biological son and the fight has been born over a dispute about who the real father is.

Sentencing him to 12 months imprisonment, suspended from 18 months, Judge Nigel Daly said: “I understand that you have issues with regards to Mr Chatfield and his family.

“However, you do not deal with such issues by arming yourself with an extendable baton, go around to his house and then hit him with it repeatedly.

“This was quite a nasty attack.”

During the sentencing, it was heard that McCairns had hit Mr Chatfield several times with the baton to his arms, neck, back and thigh.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Chatfield said: “I just want him to leave me and my children alone and to not be near our home or us and for my family to live our lives without fear.”

READ MORE: Scales of Justice: The latest cases from Oxford Magistrates' Court

An application was made for a restraining order against the family. However, McCairns’s defence barrister said that Mr Chatfield’s wife and eldest son were still in contact the defendant and spoke with ‘kind words towards him’ and ‘don’t speak well of the complainant’.

Judge Daly put a restraining order in place for Mr Chatfield but invited the prosecution to check if his wife and son want the order in place for themselves or not.

It was heard that McCairns is also hoping to obtain a DNA test through the courts.

During the trial, Mr Chatfield said they had already allegedly had a DNA test confirmed McCairns was not the father but the test was not admissible as evidence in court.

READ MORE: Woman charged with Bicester murder appears in court

McCairn’s defence barrister added that the defendant has his ‘own vulnerabilities’ including suffering from depression and having a ‘lack of thinking skills’.

It was heard he is also a carer for his elderly father and has been previously declared unfit to work.

McCairns, of Field Avenue, Oxford, was also ordered to complete 32 rehabilitation activity days.