A MAN was punched and kicked in a cowardly and unprovoked attack by two drunks, a court heard.

Darren Parker, 29, and Paul Neale, 20, assaulted the Asian as he sat on a bench. Closedcircuit television recorded them leaving the scene laughing, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Lehraab Hussain suffered a gashed forehead, a cut right eye and bruising to his shoulders as he curled into a ball to protect himself in the Cleveland Centre, Middlesbrough.

Judge Leslie Spittle told the attackers: "You were in a drunken state, and all that Mr Hussain did was to object when you knocked his hat off."

Parker, of Kedward Avenue, Middlesbrough, and Neale, of Jubilee Street, Ormesby, were both convicted of unlawful wounding.

Parker, who had a record for violence, was jailed for 15 months. Neale, who played a minor role in the assault, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.