A MAN’S “cowardly and entirely pointless attack” left another man with facial injuries he has to live with for the rest of his life.

Samuel Furmidge committed the serious assault in Bournemouth town centre after both he and the victim had been asked to leave a venue following an altercation.

The victim was sitting on a wall outside Yates in Dean Park Crescent when Furmidge, 24 and of Tern Court, Southbourne, came from behind him and kicked him in the head.

A sentencing hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on January 29 was told this blow knocked the man to the ground and his face slammed on the floor.

The victim had to undergo an operation following the incident in the early hours on December 10, 2017.

Judge Robert Pawson sentenced Furmidge to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, after he admitted a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Outlining the impact the assault had on the victim, the judge said: “He lost the ability to work for the next couple of months. He missed Christmas. He has sustained permanent facial injuries.”

He told the defendant: “It was a cowardly and entirely pointless attack by you.”

Prosecuting, Tom Wilkins told the court statements from the victim since the incident said it impacted on his university studies and caused him significant mental trauma.

While he suffered nerve damage to his face and mouth, the statement from the victim said he realised it could have been even more serious.

Mitigating, Alexandra Monaghan said Furmidge, who works as a plasterer, had not reoffended since the assault more than three years ago.

The court heard a month after the incident Furmidge was arrested on the runway at Heathrow Airport on his return from holiday.

Ms Monaghan told the court more than a year-and-a-half went by between the time of the defendant’s arrest and when he was charged.

Alongside the suspended prison sentence, which included a three-month overnight curfew, Judge Pawson ordered the defendant to pay a total of £5,500 compensation.

The judge said a suspended sentence was appropriate in Furmidge’s case, with a pre-sentence report by the probation service stating there is a low risk of offending.

There was also the absence of any criminal activity since the attack and the defendant presented as someone who is remorseful, said Judge Pawson. He added: “I have the strongest sense possible that this was a one off on your part and it won’t happen again.”