A BOLTON man who carried out an assault on his uncle where he kicked him in the head as he lay on the ground has been spared jail as a judge gave him the chance to change his life.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard Aaron Arnold got into a fight with his relative in February this year with members of the public forced to watch the brawl.

Prosecutor Lucy Boocock outlined what happened between the two of them as Arnold appeared for sentence at the Manchester court.

She told the court that the uncle “had little memory of what had taken place.

“He woke up having been assaulted and was taken to hospital," she said.

She said a couple who witnessed the incident described them as “behaving like animals, they were shouting abuse.”

Ms Boocok said that following this she said the uncle was pushed into a parked car.

Arnold then “returned to punch him in the face, he fell to the floor, he kicked him two or three times in the head while he remained on the floor", the court was told.

She said when Arnold was later arrested he had claimed he had acted in self defence during the incident.

Arnold, of Grantchester Way in Bolton, had confessed to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm at an earlier court hearing.

Representing him, defence counsel Stephen McNally asked for his client to be spared from an immediate custodial sentence.

He said: “He is a man of 20 years of age, he is a young 20 year old, there is a degree of immaturity.

“He is the father of a one year old daughter, he was in a relationship for over two years now, she is present in court.

“He has a good employment record, he worked as a gardener with his father.

“There was a degree of provocation, it wasn’t premeditated.”

Passing sentence, Judge Bernadette Baxter said: “You are 20 years of age, the pre sentence report sets out your sad family history.

"You pray in aid your little girl, unfortunately the path you are going down is repeating the past you have had for her.

“You are bringing drink and violence into her life.

“The fact is only you can change, but I am prepared to give you an opportunity to persist with the change by suspending the sentence today.”

She told Arnold she was suspending a prison sentence of 18 months for two years.

The judge ordered him to take part in the Resolve Programme, to address his offending behaviour, and also carry out 150 hours of unpaid work under the direction of the probation service.