A foul-mouthed yob fuelled by 10 pints and four Jagerbomb cocktails fractured a doorman's cheekbone in a racist attack.

Carpenter Ben Crawford had been in a smoking area of The Park Inn hotel in Folkestone when he lashed out at Blerim Gashi.

On being refused re-entry into the bar due to his abusive and drunken state, the 32-year-old erupted in anger, ripping off the security guard's coat and pulling off his body-worn camera.

Crawford then punched Mr Gashi violently in the face, ignoring the efforts of others to calm him down, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Shortly before the assault on August 28, 2022, the irate dad of two had also pushed the doorman, called him a "foreign ****" and told him to "f*** off".

Mr Gashi was left feeling dizzy and with blurred vision for several minutes. X-rays taken at hospital the following day revealed his cheekbone had been fractured in three places.

The court heard he was unable to work for four weeks and was still suffering the effects of his injury nine months on.

Crawford, of St Lukes Walk, Hawkinge, Folkestone, was arrested and when interviewed by police said he had been "upset and a little confused" at not being allowed back into the bar at the Radnor Park Road venue.

He could not recall abusing Mr Gashi and claimed he had simply pushed him.

However, Crawford later admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and was said at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday (March 5) to have expressed "genuine remorse, embarrassment and shame".

"He deeply regrets resorting to violence in the way he did, he deeply regrets not leaving the location when he should have, and deeply regrets not behaving in an entirely different way," said Paul Jackson, defending.

Urging the court to spare him immediate jail, he added that Crawford, although "not yet the finished article", had done "all he could" in the intervening 18 months to address his anger management issues by attending weekly counselling and cutting his alcohol consumption.

During the hearing, Judge Mark Weekes had questioned Crawford's remorse, highlighting what he described as a "gratuitous and unfounded attack" in his pre-sentence report on Mr Gashi's personal character.

But he added that due to strong personal mitigation and a realistic prospect of rehabilitation it was possible "by the narrowest possible margin" to keep him out of prison.

Imposing a 15-month jail term suspended for two years, Judge Weekes told Crawford that it was not until Mr Jackson had spoken on his behalf that anything other than immediate custody had been considered for his "violent, foul-mouthed and xenophobic" behaviour that night.

"You had been drinking a quite disgraceful amount and were clearly very intoxicated and exceptionally aggressive towards Mr Gashi," said the judge.

"Your aggressive and unpleasant actions were compounded by the repellent, xenophobic, not to say racist, abuse you subjected him to.

"Not content with that, and in the face of a number of your friends and those at the scene attempting to calm you down, you struck him, punching him in the face and inflicting a quite serious fracture.

"By the narrowest possible margin in your case, I have concluded, just, that I am able to suspend the sentence. But it must be observed you have come mightily close to going straight to prison."

As part of his sentence, Crawford was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity sessions.

He must also pay just over £2,000 in compensation to Mr Gashi and court costs of £535 within six months.