TWO attackers who beat up a pedestrian in the street after he asked them for a cigarette have received suspended prison sentences.

James McLennan, 25, and Stephen Parker, 38, admitted causing Stanislaw Mur actual bodily harm at Christchurch Road, Boscombe, on June 10 last year.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Angela England said violence had flared after Mr Mur asked McLennan and Parker for a cigarette.

“In a joint assault, involving multiple punches, Mr Mur was knocked to the ground unconscious. His injuries included a lump to the back of his head, a black eye and a chipped tooth. His whole body felt tender and sore. He needed a skin graft on this left shoulder,” he said.

In a statement, Mr Mur, who lives in London and had been visiting friends in the Bournemouth area, said: “I’m afraid to go out due to being beaten up. The incident made me less confident. I have received counselling and wasn’t able to work for two weeks.”

Unemployed Parker, from Seabourne Road, Bournemouth, also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a nearby pub.

In his defence, the court heard that he was “not a fighting man” and had also been injured during the fracas, pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.

McLennan had pulled Parker away and tried to calm the situation. Later he had “not sought to shirk responsibility for the injuries suffered.” The court was told that he was “in desperate need of help and support”.

Jailing McLennan from Morley Road, Pokesdown, and Parker for 51 weeks, suspended for 12 months, Judge Gary Burrell QC told them: “This was a bad beating. It was violence in a public place at night. You both lost your temper and, in a volatile situation, you set about this man.”

McLennan was ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work. Both he and Parker must observe a three-month curfew and take part in an employment, training and education programme.

They were ordered to pay a total of £1,750 compensation to Mr Mur.