A catcalling thug knocked a woman out after she confronted him over his "disgraceful" comments.
Adam Higginson and another man made Maeve Brooks feel intimidated and frightened when she was walking home alone. But she decided to stand up to the drunken friends.
Liverpool Crown Court today heard they continued taunting her until she aimed a kick at Higginson. After kicking her back, Higginson punched her to the head, leaving the victim with a permanent scar.
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Ms Brooks, in her 30s, went out with friends in Meols, Wirral on June 12 last year. As she was walking home alone at around 11pm she heard shouting from outside the Railway pub in Birkenhead Road.
Higginson, 32, of Shelley Street, Bootle, had been drinking pints of beer and shots. He and his friend shouted "hello gorgeous come over here" and "come over with us".
Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said Ms Brooks told them to "get lost". But they turned "aggressive", shouting "you should take it as a compliment".
Ms Brooks felt intimidated, but they continued using "sexual innuendo". She later said she wanted to tell them it was behaviour like that which makes women feel frightened.
CCTV footage showed Ms Brooks kick out at Higginson. It was the prosecution case she kicked him in the shin.
Higginson later claimed she kicked him in the groin. However, Mr Hussey said that, or Higginson's suggestion that what he did next was "excessive self-defence", was "ludicrous".
Judge David Potter said the two men had made "unwelcome" remarks and the victim tried to ignore them. He told Higginson: "Because she ignored you, you became more aggressive.
"You shouted that she should take what was being shouted at her as a compliment. She understandably began to feel threatened by those comments."
Judge Potter said the woman confronted them and "tempers were raised" but "clearly from what I've seen she was no match physically for you or the other man, or the combination of you".
He said the woman kicked out at Higginson, who immediately kicked her in the body. He then "pursued the now retreating Ms Brooks and followed up that kick with a heavy punch to her head, which knocked her flat out onto the road surface".
Judge Potter said: "You then jogged off. You left her unconscious and bleeding in the middle of the road."
"Fortunately" bystanders came to her aid and she was taken to hospital, where she was treated for a head injury, which still remains tender, and a 2cm cut to the right side of her mouth.
The victim is now awaiting plastic surgery for the scar - a "permanent reminder" of the attack every time she looks in the mirror. Ms Brooks said she was left anxious, wary of going out alone and took time off work, which hurt her business.
Higginson, who admitted wounding, has 12 previous convictions for 28 offences. They include battery and attempted robbery in 2006, possessing an offensive weapon and being drunk and disorderly in 2007, and racially aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit affray in 2009.
He was jailed for six months for assault causing actual bodily harm in 2009. Higginson has since been convicted of motoring offences.
Paul Treble, defending, said the CCTV "clearly" showed Ms Brooks "run over and kick" his client. He said: "The defendant doesn't move away from his disgraceful conduct beforehand, but it's clear the complainant chooses to come over to him from some distance to kick him."
Mr Treble said: "Although the defendant is being verbally abusive and he should be ashamed of himself for that, the actual physical part was impulsive and spontaneous because he was kicked by the complainant. It was short lived because it was one punch."
The barrister, who objected to the phrase "ludicrous" being used by the prosecution, suggested there were "elements of excessive self-defence". He said Higginson was "walking away from the complainant who ran over and kicked him".
Mr Treble said the dad had been celebrating a family member's 18th birthday. He drank "far too much, far too quickly and became much more intoxicated than he thought he would".
He said Higginson was upset at the time because he had been discussing the death of his grandad, who died a few months previously. He said his ex-partner was also taking their daughter with her to live in Spain at the time and perhaps that was why he drank so much.
Mr Treble said Higginson's dad died when he was young. Higginson was later diagnosed as schizophrenic with elements of paranoia.
The lawyer said this might explain why he "reacted so disgracefully" when kicked. He added: "He's not good when violence is used against him - it happened from an early age.
Mr Treble urged the judge to spare him jail so he could help to tackle his problems. However, Judge Potter said the attack was so serious, only prison was appropriate.
The judge said the suggestion of "excessive self-defence" was an "unsustainable argument" because Ms Brooks was retreating. He told Higginson: "When you struck the blow to her face it was, in the judgement of this court, a simple act of retribution and revenge for the slight she has caused you."
The judge accepted Higginson's reaction was spontaneous and "thankfully" short lived, but it was at night and in public, when he was "heavily" drunk. He jailed him for 18 months.
