A man has been jailed after a vicious one-punch attack which left a dad unable to smile or kiss his girlfriend.
Stephen Anthony Cannon, 28, had been drinking in Macclesfield when he punched Daniel Lyne, 25, in an unprovoked attack which left the victim unconscious on the ground outside a takeaway on Mill Street.
Daniel, an apprentice joiner, suffered a broken jaw and had surgery to insert a plate and screws to fix it.
Prosecutors at Chester Crown Court said Daniel is scared to go out and has lost sensation in his face which means he can’t smile or kiss his girlfriend.
Judge Patrick Thompson said it was a ‘vicious, cowardly attack’ and sentenced Cannon, of Hurdsfield Road, Macclesfield, to a year in prison.
Prosecuting, Matthew Curtis said Daniel was outside the takeaway after socialising with friends when Cannon intervened in a conversation he was having with a woman.
He said: “The complainant told her to calm down and the defendant told the complainant not to talk to her like that.
“The complainant had his arms by his side when the defendant swung the punch.”
Cannon pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to inflicting grievous bodily harm on November 8, 2014.
The sentencing hearing heard Cannon has previous convictions including an assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Defending, Wayne Goldstein said: “This was a moment of madness when he had been binge drinking.
“He was a tearaway as a youth but has turned his life around.
“He’s in full time employment and his employer thinks very highly of him.”
The court saw CCTV footage of the attack.
Judge Patrick Thompson said it was an excessive blow with tremendous force.
He said: “It was a cowardly vicious attack when he was defenceless.
“It’s left him wary of people and the loss of sensation in his face makes it difficult to smile or even to kiss his partner.”
He added: “People who go out at night and commit acts of violence have to expect an immediate custodial sentence.”
Cannon was sentenced to one year in prison, reduced by 74 days he has already spent on remand.
