Man was "kicked like a football'

Christopher Travena was knocked unconscious by the ferocity of the attack on him, prosecutor Stephanie Brown told Harrogate magistrates.

Daniel Edmonds, 22, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Travena actual bodily harm after the pair had met outside a late-night take-away in the centre of Ripon, on April 14.

He was remanded on bail until July 9 by Harrogate magistrates for sentence until probation reports have been prepared on him.

Mrs Brown said Mr Travena remembered walking past Edmonds, but could recall nothing else until he woke up in Harrogate District Hospital.

Witnesses had told police he had been pushed to the ground where he had been kicked three times, including once on the jaw which rendered him unconscious.

One witness had said that a kick to Mr Travena's ribs had treated him like a football.

In mitigation Geoffrey Rogers said CCTV pictures showed Edmonds, of Gallows Hill, Ripon, had not been Mr Travena's only assailant.

Someone else had knocked him to the ground and at least one other person had kicked him. Edmonds denied he had been responsible for more than one kick.