A builder has been ordered to pay compensation to a drunken student who suffered a fractured skull in a fracas outside a night club.

Justin Ware was angry because he had been thrown out of the Unit 1 club in Summerland Street after a clash between members of his party and a group which included victim Luke Clarkson.

The two met on a nearby street corner and Ware was caught on CCTV as he felled Mr Clarkson with a single blow.

The footage showed that Mr Clarkson was so drunk before the encounter he had to be held up by friends and when he was hit he fell backwards, hitting his head on the pavement in Belgrave Road and fracturing his skull.

His attacker was so horrified by what he had done he wrote Mr Clarkson a personal letter of apology and told a probation officer he deserved to be punished and pay compensation.

Ware, aged 25, of Longford Lane, Kingsteignton, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for a year, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 220 hours unpaid community work and pay £500 compensation and £480 costs.

Sentencing him at Exeter Crown Court, Recorder Mr Kevin de Haan, QC, told him: ‘This case illustrates how head injuries can change people’s lives.

‘You could be here facing manslaughter charges if Mr Clarkson had died. The charges you face are serious, but not as serious as they might have been.

‘This is a very serious case because your actions resulted in Mr Clarkson falling and sustaining what could have been life-threatening and which is going to impact on his well being and potentially on his academic future for some time to come.

‘You are genuinely remorseful and this was entirely out of character and, this apart, you are an decent, hard-working, family man who looks after his family very well.

‘The original incident was not of your making and Mr Clarkson accepts he bears some responsibility, although ultimately you struck the blow that put him down.

‘When somebody is drunk, even a simple push can result in them falling over and you did not strike him with the heaviest blow.

‘I have a strong feeling you did not intend for him to fall or to suffer the level of injury he sustained.’

Mr Nigel Wraith, prosecuting, said the assault was caught on CCTV in the early hours of June 5 this year after there had been trouble between two groups in the Unit 1 club.

Ware was not responsible for the earlier incident and remonstrated with Mr Clarkson because he felt he had been ejected from the club unfairly.

He hit a single blow which caused Mr Clarkson to fall and fracture his skull.

He is still suffering the effects and needed help at university and extra time to complete exams.

He made a victim impact statement in which he accepted Ware’s apology and said he wanted to put the whole incident behind him.

Miss Felicity Payne said Ware is not only remorseful but sincerely upset at the effect of what he had done.

He has stopped going out drinking with his peer group and now concentrates on looking after his partner and one-year-old child.

A probation report said Ware is a self-employed builder and amateur footballer who says he deserves to be punished for his actions and pay compensation. He told the officer: ‘Nothing would be enough to make up for my actions’.