AN attacker kicked a man like a football as he lay defenceless on the ground outside a city pizza parlour.

Christopher Travena had been punched to the floor by one man and kicked in the ribs by another when Daniel Edmonds arrived on the scene in Ripon's market square in the early hours of April 14, Peter Scott, prosecuting, told Harrogate magistrates.

What happened next was captured by a CCTV camera and seen by passersby, including one woman who told police Edmonds, 20, had kicked out at Mr Travena's head as though he was kicking a football.

Mr Scott said Mr Travena could not remember the attack.

He could recall walking towards the pizza takeaway but nothing else until waking up in Harrogate District Hospital where he was treated for bruising and swelling to his head and ribs.

Edmonds, of Gallows Hill, Ripon, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Travena actual bodily harm and after watching video footage of his attack the bench sent him to a young offenders' institution for six months.

Geoffrey Rogers, defending, said there had been trouble between Edmonds and Mr Travena for some time.

The two men had met after leaving a nightclub where each had drunk eight pints of beer. Edmonds accepted that after Mr Travena had been punched and kicked by others he kicked him to the head.

"He is ashamed of his actions which were not very pleasant at all." said Mr Rogers.