A Thunderlsey teenager who attacked his victim so viciously he ended up looking as if he had been in a car smash, failed to get his prison sentence overturned at the Court of Appeal.

The 17-year-old from Queensmere, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Southend Crown Court earlier this year.

He was sentenced to four years for attacking a 30-year-old Southend man who had been drinking with the defendant's brother, who was just 13.

Mr Justice Wright, sitting at London's Appeal Court, said the sentence was appropriate, given the savage nature of the attack and the "quite awful" injuries the victim suffered.

The victim had "become acquainted" with a number of teenagers after splitting from his wife, including the defendant's 13-year-old brother.

On January 28, he had been drinking beer at home with the boy and another youth.

After the group left the house, they were confronted by the offender, who was 16 at the time.

Extremely drunk, the youth pushed the older man into a fence and a hedge.

In what the judge described as a vicious attack, he threatened to kill him with a knife he claimed he was carrying.

He punched and kicked the victim before dragging him forcibly up several streets in Hadleigh until he reached Park Field.

While the victim lay on the ground, he was kicked in the body and head.

A bystander, who thought the victim was going to die, described the attack as being like kicking a football.

The judge said: "This court has seen photographs of the injuries which the victim suffered. They are quite awful. The victim looked like a man who has been in a particularly severe traffic accident."

Mr Justice Wright said the youth's explanation for the attack - that he was angry that the older man had got his 13-year-old brother drunk - was particularly ironic given his own drunken state.

He said: "In our judgement, the outstanding feature in this case is the gross nature of the injuries and the savage violence that this appellant used against a man who had offered him no personal provocation whatsoever."

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