A dad who punched a man to the ground – leaving him with brain damage so severe he will spend the rest of his life in care – has been spared prison.

Buster Lakey was allowed to walk free after admitting the attack on Mark Hughes in Ramsgate.

Lakey, a 28-year-old railway engineer from Margate, knocked Mr Hughes unconscious after a whisky tumbler was thrown at his car, smashing his windscreen and sparking a confrontation.

During a trial at Canterbury Crown Court in August, a jury learned how the injury resulting from Mr Hughes’ head hitting the pavement caused catastrophic brain damage.

But the full extent of his suffering was laid bare on Friday during a sentencing hearing at the same court, as his attacker was given a two-year custodial term suspended for two years.

Mr Hughes’ sister, told the hearing in a victim impact statement the fateful night had “changed everything”.

“What happened in a single moment of anger has left permanent scars,” she said.

“Before the assault, he was a strong, kind, independent man; now he’s a man who requires 24-hour care in a nursing home, unable to live his own life or make his own choices.

“He has lost the use of both his legs, one arm, one ear, and one eye. He has no functioning mental capacity. He will never again walk freely, love the same way or live independently.”

Lakey admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm before trial, but denied a more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. A jury found him not guilty.

The court heard previously how Mr Hughes was standing at the intersection of King Street and Boundary Road shortly after 9pm on November 4, 2022, when he threw a glass at Lakey’s passing car, shattering the windscreen.

A jury was told Lakey, of Manston Road, got out of his vehicle to assess the damage, before approaching Mr Hughes.

The victim was described to jurors as being the aggressor, making a grab for Lakey's neck, gritting his teeth, refusing to pay for the damage and appearing to be goading in the "fast-moving" incident.

Lakey's first punch, said by his lawyer Satya Chotalia to have been delivered on the spur of the moment and when "scared of imminent attack", caused Mr Hughes to fall backwards.

But, once back to his feet and without injury, the prosecution argued that an "extremely irate" Lakey then kicked Mr Hughes before landing a second punch that caused him to fall to the ground unconscious and hit his head on the pavement.

Mr Hughes subsequently required a craniectomy - a life-saving neurosurgical procedure where a portion of the skull is removed to relieve pressure on the brain caused by swelling.

In a victim impact statement read during the sentencing hearing, the victim’s daughter revealed the heartbreaking impact her father’s injury has had.

“The people who live in the care home are in their 80s, my dad is not even 60,” she said.

“Talking to my dad is like talking to an elderly dementia patient, except he is not elderly and he doesn’t have dementia.

“I find myself grieving a person who is still technically alive.

“There is no sentence or punishment that will ever make up for what you did to our family.”

The defendant - now a dad of two with no previous convictions - was described in character references as a "generous and devoted father and friend”.

During Friday’s hearing, Mr Chotalia relayed his client’s apologies to Mr Hughes and his family.

“It was never Mr Lakey’s intention to cause Mr Hughes the harm that he did in this case.

“He has shown genuine remorse and accepts full responsibility.

“This was a tragic incident, it was a moment of madness. What began as excessive self-defence, he accepts that the second punch went well beyond self-defence.”

It prompted an interruption from the judge, Recorder Daniel Stevenson.

“I do not consider that that position is consistent with reality,” he said.

“I’ve seen the evidence and my assessment is that he lost his temper - if he was genuinely concerned about his own safety, he could have got in his car and driven away.”

The judge addressed Lakey directly as he passed sentence.

“You caused an injury which has resulted in a man needing life-long treatment,” he said.

“You are clearly very sorry for what you have done and I accept without hesitation that you did not mean to cause Mr Hughes the level of injury that you did.

“The attack was impulsive and short-lived, if not spontaneous.”

Considering whether to pass an immediate custodial term, Recorder Stevenson outlined the harmful impact such a sentence would have on Lakey’s children.

He noted the defendant had also been assessed by probation as having a low risk of reoffending.

“Every factor in the imposition guideline favours the suspension of your sentence, apart from whether appropriate punishment could only be achieved through immediate custody,” he said.

The judge decided, on balance, that Lakey’s custodial sentence should be suspended and handed down a two-year term, suspended for two years.

He was also handed 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 240 hours of unpaid work and must attend a primary mental health treatment requirement, including 12 sessions on emotional regulation.