A thug who left a taxi driver with a fractured skull in a dispute over a £10 fare has been spared jail.

Jobless James Legg’s victim was hospitalised after the drunken attack, in Swanscombe, and could not drive again for three weeks.

Dartford magistrates had warned the 22-year-old faced custody when he admitted causing grievous bodily harm in November after being identified using CCTV.

But Legg, of Trebble Road, Swanscombe, was given a 90-day suspended prison sentence on Monday.

He was on his way home from a night out in Gravesend with his girlfriend and another friend when they realised they would struggle to pay the £10 fare.

When the rest of the group scarpered, Legg panicked and lashed out. The taxi driver was “knocked off his feet” and fell backwards, hitting his head on the road.

The court heard the attack was not premeditated and there was no evidence Legg intended to hurt his victim in the early hours of August 23.

He even returned to the scene to check on the driver and later asked to meet him to apologise.