A YOUNG Workington man wept as a judge jailed him for a drink-fuelled street attack which left the victim with multiple facial fractures and a ripped tongue.

Kyle Smithson, 20, repeatedly kicked the man's face and head as he lay on the ground, Carlisle Crown Court heard. The man – who had earlier thrown an ineffective drunken punch at the defendant – suffered multiple facial fractures and the tongue injury which threatened to obstruct his airway.

Doctors had to sedate him for 48 hours and insert tubes into his airway so that he could breathe as they waited for the swelling to reduce to safe levels.

Smithson, of Raven Terrace, Workington, pleaded guilty to a wounding offence.

Brendan Burke, outlining the case at Carlisle Crown Court, said the violence had its roots in the defendant’s jealously, which was triggered by him seeing his ex-partner showing the victim where Workington’s Travelodge hotel was.

A contractor from Carlisle, the man had enjoyed a night out in Workington on August 24 last year and needed somewhere to stay for the night.

Smithson’s former partner had simply offered to show him where the Travelodge was. But when they were seen in Pow Street by Smithson, who was staggering and clearly drunk, he yelled at the woman: “What have you been doing?”

Mr Burke said: “It appears that this unhappy series of events was triggered by jealousy.”

The court heard that the victim had approached the defendant and thrown a punch which did not connect. This was followed by a scuffle. A short time later, the victim returned with a length of wood and used it to hit the defendant.

But Smithson responded with extreme violence, taking the man to the ground and repeatedly kicking him. Such was the force of the blows that skin was ripped from his lips, and his tongue was torn.

He sustained multiple facial fractures.

The court heard that another man, who was never identified and who was unknown to the defendant, joined in with the violence as the victim lay on the ground.

Since the incident, the man was still receiving medical treatment and he suffers flashbacks. He needed three months off work.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, told the court: “The defendant has always maintained that the victim in this was the initial aggressor.”

She accepted that the defendant’s response to being struck with a stick had been “appalling” and while he had left the scene he later handed himself in to his local police station  

The barrister said: “He was heavily intoxicated.” Miss Whittlestone added that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation for the defendant, who was extremely remorseful.

He had told a probation officer: “I want to get on with my life, get a business and a proper house.” He had also decided to give up alcohol.

Judge Nicholas Barker said the victim too had reported that he no longer drinks alcohol, remarking that if he hadn’t been intoxicated events may have ended differently. There was no menace in the victim's initial “drunken punch”, said the judge.

But the defendant's “sustained assault” which followed the stick incident, involving kicks to the victim's face and head, caused“very significant injuries,” said the judge, describing the case as "concerning".

“When [the victim] entered hospital,” said Judge Barker, “he was described as having low-level consciousness; and he had inhaled a great deal of his own blood… the impact on him was very significant indeed.”

The judge said such an attack could have had tragic consequences. While recognising the defendant’s youth, and his otherwise positive attributes, Judge Barker said such extreme violence on the streets of Workington could only be appropriately punished with an immediate custodial sentence.

He sent the defendant to a young offenders’ institution for 18 months. Smithson will be released on licence halfway through that term.