Judge tells attacker to stay in jail

A drunken reveller jailed for kicking a man like "a football" in Stafford town centre must stay in prison, it has been ruled.

Matthew Woolley, of Willenhall, kicked Melvyn Whitehouse in the face as he lay on the ground, with the attack captured on security cameras.

Woolley ran off to a nearby nightspot, leaving Mr Whitehouse lying in a pool of blood.

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment for nose, face and eye injuries.

Woolley, aged 40, of Gurnard Close, was jailed by magistrates in Cannock for 18 weeks earlier this month after admitting a charge of common assault.

He appealed against the sentence at Stafford Crown Court.

Judge Simon Tonking reduced the term to three months but said Woolley must serve the sentence.

"This was a drunken assault on a defenceless man, in the street in the early hours of the morning," the judge said.

"A conversation of some kind escalated in to a fight and whilst you were not initially involved, you joined in and behaved with extreme violence by kicking that man as he lay on the ground.

The defence said there had been provocation and described the attack as a one-off football kick.