Former football hooligan Andrew Tooze, 50 (pictured) was given an 'overdose of his own medicine' when a judge allowed his attackers to walk free from court

A taxi driver who wrote a book about being a football hooligan was given an 'overdose of his own medicine' when a judge allowed his attackers to walk free from court.

Andrew Tooze, 50, flew into a rage while taking Phillip Mallon, 30, and Marc O'Mahoney, 31, home in his cab and started attacking them with a baseball bat which he kept in his boot.

The court heard how the pair then turned on Tooze, attacking him with the weapon and leaving him with such severe head and facial injuries that he spent four days in intensive care.

But, in an 'exceptional case', the judge allowed Mallon and O'Mahoney to walk free from court, saying it was an was 'no accident' that Tooze had been armed with a baseball bat.

Judge Paul Thomas added that he had read a book which Tooze had written - called the Swansea Jacks - in which he boasted about his 'role as a football hooligan'.

Barrister Dean Pulling added that Tooze was 'self-styled football hooligan' who 'revels in glorifying his own and other people's violence'.

Allowing the attackers to walk free, he said of Tooze: 'He received an over-dose of his own medicine'.

Mr Mallon and Mr O'Mahoney, both of Neath, South Wales, pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

They were sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.

Tooze has since filed a complaint with the Crown Prosecution Service over his portrayal as 'a self-styled football hooligan'.

Judge Paul Thomas said he had read a book which Tooze (left, with his injuries) had written - called the Swansea Jacks (right) - in which he boasted about his 'role as a football hooligan'

He insists he is a changed man and said it could cost him his licence to work as a taxi driver.

Mr Tooze said: 'I wrote that book ten years ago, and it has been the bane of my life. I wish I had never written it now.

'The incidents in it are even older - they took place in the late eighties and early nineties. That was a long time ago, and I am a different man now. I have a family, and I work hard to support us.

'I was in intensive care for days as a result of this attack. I was made me out to be a big bully and it really wasn't like that.'