TWO drunken louts whose victim was left blinded in one eye have walked free after an apparent blunder by the courts.

Craig Swainson clenched his fists with delight and grinned when he was spared prison for the late-night street attack.

A judge said he was being forced to pass a lenient sentence because the other yob was wrongly dealt with by a youth court.

Last night (Monday, March 25), politicians condemned the the punishments as "dreadfully inadequate".

Victim Sean Moss suffered horrific facial fractures when he was knocked to the ground and kicked in Darlington town centre.

The father-of-two, a self-employed tiler, told in a victim impact statement how the drunken attack has ruined his life.

Mr Moss has regained some sight in his left eye but may never be able to see properly again, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The court was told that he has been registered disabled and unable to continue working since the brutal attack in August.

Swainson was caught on town centre closed circuit television cameras - along with another yob - leaving Mr Moss unconscious.

The other attacker - who cannot be named - was earlier dealt with by the youth court and was given a rehabilitation order.

A crown court judge, a senior prosecutor and an experienced probation officer all questioned the validity of the sentence.

Although he was aged 17 at the time of the assault, he was 18 when he was dealt with and should have been sent to the crown court.

His punishment is the kind that is reserved for under-18s only - but it had to be used as a bench-mark for Swainson.

He was given a nine-month suspended prison term after Recorder Bernard Gateshill, QC, said: "I have to take into consideration they way in which he was dealt with.

"It seems to me that it would be harsh, indeed, if you were sent immediately to prison when your co-accused appears to have been dealt with in a very lenient way.

"It would have been far better if he had been committed to this court for sentence so you could have both been dealt with together, and I see no reason why that could not have been done, bearing in mind he was 18."

Swainson, 21, of Helmsley Moor Way, Darlington, and the teenager, both pleaded guilty to a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Video camera footage showed the younger attacker wrestle Mr Moss to the ground when the victim approached their group pointing his finger.

David Lamb, mitigating, said the apprentice scaffolder had expressed "real and genuine remorse" for his involvement in the attack.

He said there had been an earlier argument in a kebab shop when Swainson was punched, and added: "There does appear to be a degree of provocation."

In an impact statement, Mr Moss said: "Whoever assaulted me has totally changed my life.

"I am registered disabled and I'm upset, distressed and angry.

"I am in constant fear about being alone and won't go out into the front street. I cannot take the children to the local park without another adult."

North-East Euro MP Martin Callanan last night said: "Cases like this bring the whole justice system into disrepute.

"I would hope that the Attorney General will look urgently at the dreadful inadequacy of these sentences and consider intervening.

"The victim has been completely let down."