SELF-styled celebrity Jack Tweed and an Ongar pub landlord have each been given 18-month jail sentences having been found guilty of assaulting a 16-year-old boy with a golf club.

Former Roding Valley High School pupil Tweed, 21 - the on-off boyfriend of Big Brother celebrity Jade Goody whose family home is in Buckhurst Hill - was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury on July 21.

He was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, along with former neighbour James Mattock, 29, from Ongar, with nine months of the sentence to be spent in prison with the other nine months to be spent on licence.

Tweed and Mattock denied the charge which stemmed from an evening in December 2006 when after going for a Chinese takeaway became involved in a verbal altercation with a group of teenagers in Ongar High Street.

Following the scrap, Tweed and Mattock had returned home, picked up golf clubs and a spray and returned to face the teenagers in the Chipping Ongar Primary School playground.

Among the group was Daniel Steele, then aged 16, who suffered head injuries, and bruising to his face and body.

Speaking for Tweed, Andre De Moller QC said he had been the victim of “a sustained and constant provocation because of his public profile”.

He described him as a “dedicated family man” who alongside his partner, Jade Goody, had become “victims of sustained abuse from local hooligans who paraded themselves outside her home, frightening her and her two young children who were inside”.

The court heard that both the men had since moved out of the area.

Mr De Moller went on to discuss the much-publicised fight against cervical cancer that former Big Brother star Jade is currently enduring.

He said: “She is due to undergo an operation in two weeks time, Jack lives with her and is supporting her and her two young children through this difficult time.”

He added:”She is facing a long and painful road at the moment, one which Jack is supporting her throughout.”

He then passed a hand-written note from Ms Goody to the judge, which outlined the important role Tweed played in her life.

Speaking for Mr Mattock, he said: “Here is a hard working dedicated man, he employs eight people and supports his children and his ex-partner.”

He had been suffering from stress problems at the time and he just snapped, the abuse from the youths was the final straw.”

But the pleas fell on deaf ears as Mr Recorder Lucraft QC sentenced the pair to 18-month custodial sentences.

He said: “I accept that there was provocation, but I cannot get away from the fact that this was not a spur of the moment act, that you went and armed yourself.”

He added: “It was dark in the playground that evening, it was a frightening scene and a traumatic experience. You went, it seems to me, with one purpose - to attack and to have a fight."

Tweed has been supporting Jade Goody and her two sons following her recent diagnosis which she was told about while appearing in the Indian version of Big Brother.