A "VICIOUS" Halloween attack left a man eating through a straw in hospital after he was assaulted in the street.

"Dangerous" Nicholas Butcher had only been released from prison after committing a robbery five weeks before he came across Mark Sandford in Thornhill.

After an altercation, Butcher, who was drunk and had taken drugs at the time, punched the victim and left him needing surgery and hospitalised for four days, Southampton Crown Court was told.

Wearing a mask three days before Halloween, Butcher, 32, was walking along Thornhill Park Road and approaching the drivers' windows of cars on the road around 4.45pm.

The court heard how the defendant, of Cecil Road, Bournemouth, was putting his fingers across his throat, and in one instance, approached the window of a van and made a gun with his fingers to the driver.

After seeing Sandford, who was 23 at the time, Butcher began to scare the victim's dog.

Prosecuting, barrister Paul Fairley said: "Perhaps unwisely, the victim told Butcher to stop, to which the defendant said 'are you starting?'

"Then with one punch, Sandford was left with chipped teeth and a broken jaw. He was taken to hospital and left needing surgery."

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Sandford said: "I am scared to go outside now and don't feel safe. The offence also caused me to miss the start of my new role at work.

"I was on a diet without solid foods and had to be fed through a straw. I hope he realises the impact that this had on my life. It also affected me financially."

Mitigating, defence barrister Fern Russell said: "We often see cases where the defendant has a remarkable amount of insight for the benefit of sentencing, but his did strike me as genuine.

"He seems to understand the impact of what he has done here and offered me a short apology. Mr Butcher is well aware of his issues and wants to get the help."

Judge Gary Burrell QC sentenced Butcher, who pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, to two years in prison with a further two years on licence.

Sentencing him, Burrell said: "You are a dangerous man who clearly isn't ready to be on the outside. This was a vicious and unprovoked attack and you don't seem to be able to control yourself.

"Your body language tells me that you don't disagree with that."

Interrupting the judge, Butcher, who has 17 previous convictions, for some including robbery, said to the court: "I need to be fixed don't I."

After the case, Mark told the Echo: "I'm just glad some sort of justice has been served. I'm really thankful to all the drivers who said what happened, and the police were fantastic too."