A thug left a man lying in a pool of his own blood after knocking him unconscious.
Leonard Squires, 22, appeared in court on June 6 after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The incident took place in the late hours of March 11, Teesside Live reports.
Prosecutor at Teesside Crown Court, Matthew Hopkins, said that the defendant was with his girlfriend at a car park in Darlington when the victim made a series of comments towards her.
Squires then got out of the car and a row took place.
Mr Hopkins said: "The defendant then punched him in the face knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall to the ground where he lay motionless. From the CCTV it is clear the victim had his hands beside him and it was the defendant who stepped towards him.
"The defendant didn't check on the victim and simply walked away. The victim was unconscious for about three to four minutes and was lying on his side bleeding from his mouth and nose. There was a pool of blood under his head and one of his teeth lay in it."
The court heard the victim lost two teeth in the incident, suffered swelling, bruising and cuts to the side of his face and mouth and was taken to hospital.
In a police interview Squires claimed the victim made inappropriate comments to his girlfriend and that he told him to 'f*** off' and thought the victim may attack him.
The defendant said he punched the man in self-defence.
Mr Hopkins added: "The defendant said the victim had threatened him saying 20 travellers were coming down to punch him in the face."
Defending, Michelle Turner, said the defendant has relocated to the North East and has been working with agencies to change his life around.
She also said he pleaded guilty to the offence before the plea hearing.
Sentencing, Judge Christopher Smith said: "I know you moved to this area to start fresh and I know you have done really well trying to put past difficulties behind you so I'm hoping this is just a blip.
"You lost your temper and punched that man very hard. You knocked his teeth out and you knocked him unconscious."
The Victoria Road resident - who has seven convictions for 10 offences - was given a 20-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months.
He must complete 20 rehabilitation days, the Thinking Skills Programme and must do 100 hours of unpaid work.
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