A MAN launched an unprovoked attack on an innocent teenager during a confrontation in a skate park.

Kyle McGailey left his then 14-year-old victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, with a fractured nose and in need of an operation after he headbutted and punched the teen.

The 19-year-old assaulted the victim after “thinking he was someone else” during the incident at Freespace Skatepark, in Chandler’s Ford.

Southampton Crown Court heard that McGailey, who is already serving a 41-month jail term for a similar grievous bodily harm charge, saw the victim and a group of friends hanging out at the park.

Prosecutor Nicholas Hall said: “The defendant walked towards the group and it seemed to the victim that he was staring at them.

“McGailey grabbed the victim and headbutted him and then punched him in the nose...he then said to the victim ‘if you do anything like this again I will kill you’.”

The victim had initially been worried about telling his mother about what happened when he returned home.

In an impact statement, the victim said: “I am scared to go out at night and only go out when my friends come with me and drop me off. I was off school for a week and had to have a number of operations to correct my nose.”

McGailey, of HM Prison Portland, Dorset, admitted causing grievous bodily harm but said he had struck the wrong person during the incident, which happened in April, 2017.

The court heard McGailey had been previously convicted 23 times for 35 offences, many relating to violence.

In mitigation, Joanne Chester said McGailey had turned a corner since he was imprisoned for GBH last year. She added that McGailey had written to his victim to apologise for the attack.

He was jailed for 14 months.