A THUG left his victim in hospital with a fractured skull after a single punch in an unprovoked attack.

Jack Taylor was drunk and involved in a row with a man outside the Roundstone in East Preston.

As it became more heated, Jack Fanning attempted to calm him down.

But Taylor punched him in the face, causing Mr Fanning to fall backwards and hit his head.

He fell unconscious and had to be taken to hospital with a bleed on his brain.

At Lewes Crown Court Taylor, 22, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent.

He was given a 16-month suspended sentence and was told to pay £2,380 in compensation to Mr Fanning.

In a statement Mr Fanning described how the attack outside the pub on the A259 had left him fearful of going out.

It had also left him unable to work or take part in sports until he recovered.

He said: “The incident has caused me to sustain a fractured skull and a brain haemorrhage. I was in hospital for a week.

“The whole incident has affected my mental health. There are days when I have not wanted to leave the house in case something like this happened again.

“The attack was unprovoked, I did nothing to him.”

Anogika Souresh, prosecuting, said the incident happened on February 21 last year.

Mr Fanning had tried to calm Taylor down and told him no one wanted the police to be called.

The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

Andrew Turton, defending, said his client had apologised immediately after the punch and regretted what he did.

He said Taylor had seen a man described as a Mr Teague who he felt had “bullied” him at school.

Mr Turton said his client has had problems with attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and is also slightly immature.

The barrister also pointed out the legal delay to charge his client, 11 months after the incident, when his client had admitted responsibility at police interview.

Judge Martin Huseyin said Taylor was “lucky” that Mr Fanning’s injuries were not even more serious.

He said Taylor had come “within a whisker” of being jailed.

Instead the judge ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation sessions, with the compensation to be paid to Mr Fanning within six months.

The judge told Taylor: “This ought to be a once in a lifetime experience, if it is not then you are going to find yourself serving some long prison sentences.”