A LEIGH man has appeared in court accused of suddenly attacking his cousin by dragging him over a fence and ramming his head on concrete paving stones.

Gareth Williams, 29, of Coronation Drive, Higher Fold, denied causing actual bodily harm to his cousin Frank Davis whom he had known since childhood.

He also denied later threatening to burn down his cousin's house while he, his girlfriend Debbie Francis and their two children aged four and two were inside.

He is alleged to have made the threats in March last year to scare Mr Davis into not giving evidence against him for the original assault charge.

A jury at Bolton Crown Court heard that the two cousins had been talking with Mr Davis' pal Les Gilmour at his house in Coronation Drive in Leigh in August 1999 when Williams grabbed Mr Davis by the neck and pulled him over the garden fence, punching him and banging his head onto the garden paving slabs and kicking him several times in the back.

In a statement to police, Williams said Mr Davis had in fact attacked him and that he had reacted in self-defence.

He said Mr Davis had lost his temper when he had reminded him that he had a girlfriend at home as they were talking and joking with girls.

But when Mr Davis spoke from the witness box, he said he could not understand why Williams had attacked him and denied he wanted to see the girls again and that he had lost his temper.

Proceeding