A teenager kicked a man in the head at a Weston-super-Mare kebab shop, leaving him unconscious and needing 22 stitches, a court heard.

Craig Hole, aged 19, pleaded guilty to assault after kicking Martin Davies, who was aged in his 40s, in the attack in Alexandra Parade.

He appeared at North Somerset Courthouse on Thursday, charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Witnesses said Hole, of Wilton Gardens, was being ‘verbally aggressive’ on December 14, 2014.

The court heard how Mr Davies asked Hole to leave people alone, when Hole swung a punch at him.

Mr Davies fell to the ground, and Hole kicked him in the face, leaving him unconscious. Mr Davies woke up in hospital, with no memory of the assault.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Davies said: “I am shocked by the level of violence I have heard was inflicted on me.

“I am conscious of the scar I received to my face as a result of the attack and the fact that it has changed my appearance for the rest of my life.

“I don’t go out in Weston in the evening anymore as I don’t feel comfortable.”

Mitigating, James Mumford asked magistrates to take into account Hole’s age at the time of the attack, and that he had stress and worry ‘hanging over him’ for nearly two years because the case took so long to reach court.

Mr Mumford said: “Mr Hole’s life has been changed by the assault as well, and he has genuine horror at what he did, and a sense of regret.”

Magistrates said because the offence was ‘very serious’, Hole will need to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on September 29.