A husband and wife beat up their daughter's boyfriend in his bedroom with a large metal torch after they thought he had attacked her.

David and Deborah Fox burst into the house on Peterborough Road, Carshalton, in March last year, Croydon Crown Court heard.

The couple, of Elm Close, Carshalton, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at a property in Peterborough Road, Carshalton, shortly after midnight on March 16 last year.

Mrs Fox, 47, held the victim's mother back while her husband ran up stairs, burst into the 18-year-old's bedroom and began beating him with the torch, before being joined in the attack by his wife.

The victim's mother eventually managed to come to the aid of her son and threw herself on top of him to protect him.

After the young man's bed collapsed, David Fox, 46, began hitting the young man with a wooden slat from the bed.

Luckily the victim's 21-year-old sister ran down the stairs and rang police when she heard the attack begin.

Both the mother and son had to be taken to St Helier Hospital for treatment after the attack, the younger victim suffering with a cut to his head, while his mother, in protecting her son from the blows, suffered a fractured hand.

David and Deborah Fox told police they attacked the 18-year-old man because he had attacked their daughter, aged 16.

The young couple were arrested after an altercation outside a house party in Carshalton on March 12 last year but no charges were brought.

Both Mr and Mrs Fox were given 12-month prison sentences, suspended for 12 months, and each ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid community work.

In addition, they were both ordered to pay compensation of £125 to both their victims when sentenced at the court on April 10.