Princess Diana's elder sister vouched for a man who attacked two charity workers monitoring a hunt as a judge decided to spare him a prison sentence.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale told a court that George Grant, who assaulted the men with his son Thomas Grant leaving one victim with a broken neck, would lose his job and home if he were jailed.

McCorquodale, who is joint master of the Belvoir Hunt, told Leicester Crown Court that Grant is "very hardworking, good at his job", and that she had "never seen him lose his temper like that".

Grant and his son were both given 16-month prison sentences, suspended for two years. Judge Jinder Singh Boora told the men: "Both of you flipped. Neither of you are by nature violent men."

They worked for the Belvoir Hunt in the East Midlands, which describes itself as "one of the world's most celebrated foxhunts".