TWO half-brothers were brutally kicked, punched and beaten with a chair leg after an argument with their mother's boyfriend got out of hand.

Simon McCarthy received a fractured skull along with cuts and bruises after verbal exchanges with Colin Benjamine, of Kirtle Road, Chesham, escalated into a vicious beating.

Mr McCarthy's half-brother John O'Donoghue received an injury to his eye and a fractured shoulder and both brothers were beaten unconscious.

At Aylesbury Crown Court on Monday, Benjamine was put behind bars for more than two years for what Judge Christopher Tyrer described as "appalling violence".

Benjamine, 44, a landscape gardener, had admitted unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on the two half-brothers during the incident in April.

Tamala McGee, prosecuting, told the court an argument started after the three men returned to Benjamine's house after a night out drinking.

She explained how Benjamine initially picked up a kitchen knife but put it down in exchange for a chair leg.

Miss McGee said Benjamine chased his victims into an alleyway and continued to punch and kick them both until he calmed down. The brothers were both found unconscious in the alleyway when police arrived.

The court heard how Benjamine had been in a relationship with Pauline O'Donoghue for five years but this had caused a long-standing tension because Mr O'Donoghue believed Benjamine had not been a good partner to his mother.

Miss McGee explained that the fateful argument began after Mr O'Donoghue had asked Benjamine if he could stay the night.

Benjamine told Mr O'Donoghue to get out of his house in a rage after which both brothers were attacked.

Benjamine admitted he had been in a rage and had picked up a knife. He also admitted ripping of a chair leg and flailing it around in the alleyway.

Paul Romans, mitigating, told the court there had been a long background to the incident which started with unpleasant verbal exchanges from both sides.

"The situation overflowed into violence," he explained.

Mr Romans added that Benjamine was genuinely remorseful. His behaviour had lost him his home, his relationship and his job. He was jailed for 27 months.