The mother of a teenage boy who had his teeth “smashed into the roof of his mouth” has criticised his attacker’s sentence and called for more to be done.

The woman’s 16-year-old son was punched twice in the face at a gathering last year, forcing him to need surgery on his teeth and live in mental anguish over the attack. His attacker, who was 15 at the time and is now 17, has received a referral order and was ordered to pay £1,000 to his victim.

But with the cost of dental repairs being estimated at more than £8,000 the boy’s mum has pleaded for help from clinics to help her son and slammed the justice system over the sentence.

Speaking to The Argus after the sentencing she said: "I'm disappointed. I question what justice means when you can go around injuring someone and not get a criminal conviction that would go on file.

"The stress of going through the justice system was not worth the outcome.

“There’s no justice – it won’t fix his teeth.”

A hearing at Hove Crown Court was told how the boy and his attacker, both of whom cannot be named for legal reasons, were at a gathering in Eastbourne when the attack took place.

During an altercation the victim was slapped in the face by another boy before his attacker punched him in the mouth and the forehead.

The court heard that the victim walked to the hospital crying after two of his teeth were displaced and he suffered a fractured skull.

The boy’s mother estimated that dental treatments to repair his mouth and teeth, where two teeth had been left “dead” by the attack, would cost more than £8,000.

In a statement read at Hove Crown Court sitting as a youth court, he said the incident had “caused him a lot of pain” and he was “constantly looking over his shoulder”.

The boy’s attacker received a referral order, restraining order and was ordered to pay £1,000 to his victim – but Judge Jeremy Gold KC said he was “fortunate” as he was not being tried as an adult and would have gone “straight to custody” if he was.

Under a referral order, once the conditions of the order are met the conviction is considered “spent” and does not have to be declared to employers.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Sussex Police is committed to holding perpetrators of violent crime to account and, as in this case, work to gather any available evidence to support a charge via the Crown Prosecution Service.

“Any subsequent sentences are decided by the court through the judicial process.

“Violent crime will not be tolerated in Sussex and we will continue to work with our partners to deter offending, catch perpetrators and address the underlying causes of criminal behaviour.”

The Crown Prosecution Service was approached for comment.