A THUG blinded a man in one eye after unleashing an unprovoked attack on him at a bus stop, a court heard.

Adam Whitehead, who has a long record for violence, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Bolton Crown Court on Friday.

The court heard how Whitehead was talking on his mobile phone while walking his dog along Bury New Road, Whitefield, when he spotted 54-year-old Christopher Riley waiting at a bus stop.

David Toal, prosecuting, said there was previous bad feeling between the two men, with 23-year-old Whitehead having previously threatened Mr Riley.

And when he saw Mr Riley he ended his phone call, telling the listener: “Just a minute, there’s some bloke here I have to sort out.”

Whitehead punched his victim twice and he fell to the floor, fearing he was bleeding because his face was wet.

However, the blows had resulted in a deep cut to his left eyeball as well as bruised head and a lost tooth.

Doctors were unable to save the sight in his eye and Mr Toal added that Mr Riley has been in pain ever since, with his face swollen from the injury and suffering from depression.

Mr Toal said: “He feels, and these are his words, that he is like the elephant man and people are looking at him.

Mr Riley said in a statement: “It is frightening what has happened to me.” Whitehead, of Dixon Green Drive, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Ian Metcalfe, defending, described him as “an angry young man with behavioural difficulties.”

Judge Davies told Whitehead that he qualified as a dangerous offender and so must spend a further 18 months on licence at the end of his sentence.

Judge Davies told Whitehead: “While you had no weapon, you dealt with the victim brutally.

“This is one of the most serious types of this offence that I have come across.”