A GRANDAD was left with devastating, life-changing injuries and will probably never work again after he was attacked by a drunken and violent thug outside a pub, a court was told.

Ricky Bastable, 47, smashed his head on the pavement after he was punched to the ground by Wayne Bannister.

Bannister was said to have been arguing with his ex-girlfriend and to have been aggressive towards her in the Park View pub, Burnley.

He had then gone outside and turned over a bench, smashing glasses.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Mr Bastable and another man had warned Bannister about his behaviour and had asked him to leave. The defendant had encouraged the two men to follow him outside and ‘was up for a fight.’

Bannister took swings at the victim and a third blow knocked him down and ‘out cold.’ The assault was captured on CCTV, which was played at the hearing.

The hearing was told how Mr Bastable, then a self-employed roofer, suffered ‘terrible’ injuries and recently underwent what might have been a life-saving operation.

The attack had left him with a fractured skull, permanently deaf, with five per cent vision in his right eye and with facial nerve palsy.

Mr Bastable needs an operation on his right eye, which has not shut since the assault on September 22, and might eventually lose the eye. He needs constant care and his family believe he will never work again.

The court heard Mr Bastable's family said he looked as if he had had severe stroke.

Bannister, 32, who has a long record for violence, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. The defendant, of Admiral Street, Burnley, was jailed for two years – the maximum for the offence after a guilty plea.