A Chessington dad who doused his two autistic sons in diesel has been jailed for six years.

In February, the Old Bailey jury heard the 47-year-old man allegedly strapped his two children, aged five and six, into a car and drove to a remote country lane in Surrey in April last year.

There he doused them in diesel and hit the eldest boy with a car jack, but did not go through with starting a fire.

The jury heard the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, flagged down a passer-by and said: "You've got to come, I've hurt one of my kids. I have tried to commit suicide".

The dad, a house husband who worked part-time, had been married to his wife for eight years.

On the night of the attack, the boys' mum told her husband she "hated him and didn't want to be with him".

The man denied two counts of attempted murder.

He was cleared of trying to kill his younger son, aged five, but found guilty of attempting to murder the older brother.

Sentencing him today, Judge Samuel Wiggs said it was a "tragedy of the greatest magnitude".

Judge Wiggs said both the man and his wife had suffered mental health problems as well as having to look after their disabled sons.

He said the man was "an extremely caring father" who was at the end of his tether.