Victim Joshua Richards had his two front teeth knocked back into his mouth and may need up to £8,000 worth of cosmetic dental work, if they have been too badly damaged, a court heard.

His attacker, Patrick Edward Curtis, aged 21, was told to pay him £1,000 in compensation by the judge at Doncaster Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and was given a suspended prison term of nine months plus ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Mr Richards was sitting in the garden of a house in Newmarche Drive, Askern, with some friends last summer when the defendant arrived in a drunken state and got into an argument with him.

Curtis, of Plantation Close, Askern, became very angry, said Christopher Tonge, prosecuting, and stood in front of him and delivered a single punch to his mouth.

"He was seated on a garden chair and fell off it backwards and the defendant laughed," said Mr Tonge, who added that there had been taunting by Curtis before he threw the punch when he had pulled his cap off and made fun of him.

Mr Richards' two upper front teeth were pushed back so far that he could not eat and had to go to hospital for dental surgeons to realign them.

But a dentist who examined him later said the teeth might discolour which would need cosmetic work costing between £3,000 and £4,000 per tooth, which would not be covered by the NHS.

When arrested Curtis admitted he had hit the complainant in a drunken temper.

"It is out of character for him. This was a serious error of judgment when he had consumed rather a lot of alcohol," said Michael Cane-Soothill, defending.

"Regrettably, although there was only one blow it did cause some damage to this young man's teeth and little can be done to remedy the situation, although when he sobered up he did go round and apologise a few days later."

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