A 66-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for attacking his ex-wife's divorce solicitor after a court hearing over the split.

But today his son criticised the sentence and said he believed the incident had been an accident.

Colin Cocker, of Tabor Street, Burnley, hit Karen Frankland, from Farley's Solicitors, Burnley, following a court hearing in January to settle a dispute over the ownership of the family home.

It followed his divorce from his wife of 38 years, Jean, 73, in February 1999. Cocker met Jean, a retired dressmaker, of Browsholme Avenue, at a Burnley nightclub.

After the incident, Mrs Frankland, from the Manchester Road-based firm, made a complaint about the pensioner to the court.

Cocker, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was arrested on a warrant on Monday, after failing to attend a hearing into the alleged assault earlier this month.

He appeared before Deputy District Judge Flanagan, the judge in the dispute over the house, in a civil hearing at Burnley County Court, in Hammerton Street, accused of committing contempt of court by assaulting an officer of the court within the court building.

After hearing from both parties, and from a court usher who witnessed the incident, Deputy District Judge Flanagan sentenced the retired funeral director to 28 days in prison.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Frankland said: "Thankfully these kinds of incidents are rare. It was an unwarranted attack on me, which has been dealt with by the court."

Cocker's son, Graham, 38, who works as a travel agent in Stockport, said of his father: "He has never been in trouble with the law before and I can only think it was an accident.

"He totally apologised for any harm caused to Mrs Frankland and told the court it was not malicious in any way, but he has still been sent to prison."

Mr Cocker, who lives with his dad in Tabor Street, added: "I am appalled by the judge's decision."