Also made subject of curfew, ordered to complete unpaid work and pay compensation

Punched teen after he asked for a light in McDonald's, Middlesbrough

A promising university student fractured a 19-year-old's skull with a single punch after the victim asked him if he had a cigarette lighter in a McDonald's restaurant, a court heard.

Caine Inyanga, 19, was spared jail after he floored Adam Turner in the violent early morning attack that left the tool maker unconscious on the ground.

Turner, also aged 19, approached Inyanga in the early hours of the morning in McDonald's in Middlesbrough, Teesside, and asked if he had a cigarette lighter.

Caine Inyanga, 19, pictured left, was spared jail after he admitted fracturing the skull of Adam Turner, pictured right, with a single punch

After receiving no response from the chemical engineering student the victim turned to Inyanga's female companion and asked the same question.

Inyanga, who had been drinking and taking drugs, demanded Mr Turner and his friend 'get outside now,' said prosecutor Emma Atkinson.

The pair made it clear they did not want to fight, but he punched both of them, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The blow to Mr Turner caused him to fall to the floor and he lost consciousness. As a result of the attack he has suffered hearing lose and tinnitus.

Inyanga ran away from the fast food restaurant on October 10 last year, but later handed himself in.

When police examined his phone they found text messages which contained the phrase 'battered for rudely interrupting'.

He told officers he was offended when the two men 'came a bit too close' and Mr Turner was quoted as saying: 'It's a free country.'

The attack happened at McDonald's in Middlesbrough, Teesside, after Mr Turner had approached Inyanga and asked him if he had a cigarette lighter

Inyanga, who had no previous convictions, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and common assault.

Scott Taylor, defending, said: 'Nothing could have been said that would have provoked the action that happened.

'He has shown remorse. He asked that I pass on his sincere apologies to both individuals.'

Judge Howard Crowson said: 'This is the tragedy of it. These are both placid men, neither of them violent.

'You probably never intended any such harm, not that level,' he added.

Inyanga of Middlesbrough, was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He was also made the subject of a four-month tagged curfew, ordered to complete 150 hours' unpaid work and a pay £1,000 compensation.

Speaking after the hearing Mr Turner from Hartlepoole said: 'I think the sentence is probably better than him going to actual prison.

Promising university student, Inyanga, was handed a suspended prison sentence after he admitted the attack

'It still affects me quite a lot, in every way really. Being a tool-maker, sound is part of my job as well.

'It's got a lot better since hospital. It's still not the same as it was.'

He said he remembered little of the assault: 'I don't go out to fight. I just go out to have a good time. I'd rather hug someone than fight them.

'I woke up in hospital getting told I was attacked. It left me wondering why. I was very confused.

'I remember waking up strapped down to a table with this horrible thing around my head, X-raying me. That petrified me.