A kebab shop thug from Kingsteignton has been ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to a young Royal Marine he battered in an unprovoked attack.

Jake Slater left victim Aaron Graham with a fractured eye socket which has forced him to take a desk job and stopped him playing rugby for the Marines.

Builder Slater was caught on CCTV launching a savage attack in which he punched Mr Graham seven times in the face and trying to knee him in the face as he fell to the floor.

Slater was drunk and had just picked up a packet of chips at the kebab shop when he reacted to a remark made by another customer.

Mr Graham had just come into the restaurant with a smartly dressed group of friend when he was targeted in the attack, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Slater, aged 25, of Chudleigh Road, Kingsteignton, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 14 months, suspended for 18 months, curfewed for three months, and ordered to pay £2,000 compensation with £350 costs.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, told him: ’You caused serious injury to a man who you punched repeatedly, essentially for no reason whatsoever except the fact you were drunk.

’It was totally unacceptable drunken violence and you caused him a serious physical injury to his face which required metal plates inserted. It has had a substantial effect on his life.

’I am persuaded, just, to suspend the sentence because you pleaded guilty, have expressed remorse and you work and employ another person and are able to pay substantial compensation.’

Judge Mercer added :’You are on very thin ice. If there is any repetition of this violence you will go straight to prison.’

Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said the attack in Yummies Kebab shop in Torquay around 2.30am on April 4 last year was caught on CCTV.

It showed Slater moving across the shop and attacking Mr Graham, who was cornered and knocked to the ground by a hail of seven or eight punches as he tried to back away.

She said Mr Graham is a corporal in the Royal Marines who suffered a broken eye socket which caused him to be moved from active duties to a desk job and forced him to stop playing rugby.

He made a victim impact statement in which he said: ’I can no longer play for the Royal Marines because of the plate in my face. The plate has changed my appearance and the way that I smile.’

Martin Salloway, mitigating, said Slater’s only previous conviction for violence dated back to when he was 18 and he now has his own construction business with one other employee.

He regretted what he did and was willing to work with the probation service to prevent future offending.