A FAST food delivery man got so drunk on Christmas Eve that he attacked a caravan park owner with a knuckleduster for no reason at all.

Paul Donohoe could not even remember carrying out the attack on John James at the site at Ideford, let alone why he did it.

He claimed he put the knuckleduster on after downing a litre of wine because he planned to use it to break pieces of wood for a fire inside his caravan at Little Oak Park, near Chudleigh.

Donohoe, aged 52, of Abbey Road, Torquay, admitted causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon. He was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work by Judge Graham Cottle at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge told him: ’You have lived a perfectly law abiding life but for some unaccountable reason on that night you committed an assault on somebody you have known as a friend for years.

’There appears to be no real explanation for you attacking him with the knuckleduster and causing some unpleasant injuries.

’I accept you are ashamed and appalled at what you did and still unable to explain why you did it. The fact you are of good character and have admitted this immediately is significant mitigation.’

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said the attack took place shortly after midnight on Christmas Eve at the park which is owned by 56-year-old Mr James and where Donohoe had a caravan and workshop.

She said: ’Donohoe started acting very strangely. He approached Mr James and said "where are my daughter’s bones?". He then attacked him using a knuckleduster and hit him repeatedly around the head and body.

’Mr James grabbed him and they fell to the ground with the defendant still trying to punch him. Mr James got up and ran away to a caravan where he phoned the police and ambulance.

’Donohoe was arrested and said he had drunk a litre of wine alone and could not recall leaving his caravan or anything about the assault.’

Mr Paul Dentith, mitigating, said his client is a long-standing friend of the victim, to whom he bore no malice. He has no memory of the attack, why he did it, or what he meant by his words.

He said the incident is totally out of character and Donohoe is known as Paul the Peacemaker by his friends and has always been a happy drunk in the past.

He had the knuckleduster because he had found it while clearing out a property in the past and used it when he was in his caravan to break up wood for his fire.

Mr Dentith said Donohoe is currently working part time as a delivery driver for a curry house in Newton Abbot but only earns £53.60 a week.