A TEENAGE attacker who fractured a firefighter's skull and left him with devastating brain injuries has been jailed for 18 months.

George Harvey was also ordered to pay £7,500 compensation to his victim who was unable to work for several months after being knocked unconscious in a Swanage street in June last year.

Harvey, 19, of Moor Road, Swanage, looked shaken as Mr Recorder Mather, told him: "You hit your victim with a very heavy punch that knocked him out. He fell and cracked his head. You knew something bad had happened and you ran home and hid. Your conduct that evening was disgraceful.

"You are a big man with an interest in boxing - you must be aware of how much damage you can cause."

Harvey, an apprentice carpenter, had denied assault causing grievous bodily harm and affray but was found guilty of the two charges by a jury.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard that 44-year-old Westbourne-based firefighter David Colclough was left in a temporary vegetative state after being attacked in the High Street on June 14 2004.

He and some fellow firefighters had gone to investigate trouble outside a kebab shop during a night out, the jury was told.

After the case, Mr Colclough, a father-of-two, told the Daily Echo about the devastating effects of the assault. "I'm not the same - I'll never be the way I was", he said.

"For the first couple of months I was in a vegetable-like state and just sat in the garden.

"I was aware of things but just not 'with it'.

"I became very frustrated. I had a few tantrums which wasn't like me. The kids said 'I want my dad back'."

Harvey received an 18-month jail term for GBH and six months for affray, to run concurrently.

He was told to pay the compensation within two years.

First published: October 18