A YMCA worker who stamped on a man's head three times as he lay unconscious on the ground in Norwich's Prince of Wales Road has been jailed for 10 months.

Norwich Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of Grant Linsey, 30, stamping on the head of Kyal Balfour as he lay on the pavement after being punched to the floor by another man.

Mr Balfour suffered a bleed to the brain and a broken cheekbone and spent two days at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital, but has made a good recovery.

Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Alasdair Darroch told Linsey: 'If you stamp on someone's head while they are on the ground unconscious, there's no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.'

Linsey, who pleaded guilty to affray at an earlier hearing, was working at the time as a night support worker for the YMCA in St Giles Street, Norwich, where he lived.

He appeared for sentencing with three other men who had also been involved in the drunken affray in Prince of Wales Road on September 10 last year.

Lewis Skells, 20, from the YMCA in St Giles Street, and Jamie Dawson, 25, from Hercules Road, Hellesdon, had also earlier pleaded guilty to affray, whilst Aaron Wright, 33, from the YMCA in St Giles Street, had admitted the lesser charge of threatening behaviour.

Prosecuting, Malcolm Robins said the case was based virtually exclusively on CCTV evidence.

He said Mr Balfour and friends Skells and Wright went into Norwich city centre for a night out on September 9, and were walking by the Best Kebab and Pizza takeaway at about 3am the following morning and saw Linsey inside.

Mr Robins said: 'They recognised him and went into to greet him. They knew him as the night support worker at the YMCA where they lived.

'Mr Balfour said that Linsey kicked off in the kebab shop. CCTV footage shows Linsey angry towards staff, and saying that there was something wrong with the food order.

'Further CCTV footage shows Linsey walking away apparently injured. Dawson chases Linsey and Mr Balfour.

'Dawson punches Mr Balfour to the face and he falls on the pavement. Dawson leaves the scene and Wright and Skells attend to their friend on the ground.

'Linsey then stamps three times on Balfour's head. Wright then punches Linsey to the head and Skells continues to hit Linsey to the head about 10 times.

'Skells and Wright are arrested but Linsey returns to the YMCA and calls police to say he's been assaulted, before he's arrested. Dawson was arrested on October 11.'

Michael Clare, for Linsey, said he accepted that what he did was 'quite shocking' but could not remember what happened that night.

John Farmer represented the others, and, for Dawson, said he was very remorseful. He said Skells acted on the spur of the moment after his friend had been stamped on, and said Wright had started out as the peacemaker and would not have done anything if Balfour had not been stamped on.

Wright, Dawson and Skells were each given a 12 months community order, with Wright handed 80 hours unpaid work, Dawson 180 hours unpaid work and Skells 200 hours unpaid work.