A drunken lout left a pub customer knocked out cold after his request for a bite of the man's dinner was refused.

Brian Sawyer was tucking into chicken and chips at the Samuel Peto in Folkestone when he was confronted by Neil McLaughlin asking him: "Are you going to give me some of that?"

But Canterbury Crown Court heard that when Mr Sawyer replied "No" and told the stranger to go away, his seat was kicked, causing him to fall sideways and violently strike his head on the marble-top bar.

CCTV captured the unprovoked attack as well as 41-year-old McLaughlin walking out, more concerned about being barred than his victim's state.

Mr Sawyer was unconscious for two to three minutes as other patrons at the Wetherspoon pub in Rendezvous Street came to his aid.

But dad-of-two McLaughlin was told at his sentencing hearing last Thursday that it was "more by good fortune than judgment" that his victim had not suffered a serious, even fatal, injury.

The court heard Mr Sawyer has no recollection of the incident and had not provided a victim impact statement.

Prosecutor Paul Valder said it was at around 2.45pm on Saturday, November 11 last year, that he was sitting at a tall table close to the bar when his attacker approached.

Other customers later told police McLaughlin was drunk and had been overheard to say his glass contained a staggering six measures of vodka.

It was just as Mr Sawyer had been served his meal and was about to start eating that the construction site manager left his table and walked over.

"The defendant leant over him saying words to the effect of, 'Are you going to give me some of that?'" explained the prosecutor.

"He said 'No' and told the defendant to go away. Mr Sawyer was holding his knife and fork and gesturing for the defendant to leave him alone.

"Two women tried to guide the defendant away but as he gesticulated with his hands he (McLaughlin) then swiped at Mr Sawyer with the sole of his shoe, kicking at his thigh area or the side of the stool, causing it and Mr Sawyer to fall sideways.

"As he did so, he hit his head on the marble-top bar."

An unrepentant McLaughlin then remarked, “Next time you wave a knife at me, I'll put it straight through you” before commenting as he headed towards the exit, “He raised a knife”.

"Once outside he was heard to say, 'That's me banned. I can't come back here anymore after that'," added Mr Valder.

Mr Sawyer was taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford suffering from a reduced level of consciousness, blurred vision, memory loss and a swelling to the head.

Tests revealed, however, that there was no acute injury and he was discharged with painkillers.

McLaughlin, of Bouverie Square, Folkestone, was identified by police from the pub's CCTV.

When interviewed in January this year, he maintained Mr Sawyer had threatened him with a steak knife and he feared being stabbed.

"He denied touching him at all. He said he had kicked away the chair because Mr Sawyer threatened him with a knife," Mr Valder told the court.

"He said he was in fear for his life and what he had done was a measured response."

"Your quite unnecessary drunken, violent and aggressive behaviour could so easily have had fatal consequences…”

However, he later pleaded guilty to an offence of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Phil Rowley, defending, said that having approached Mr Sawyer, there was some "misguided banter" and the "unpleasant incident quickly escalated".

But he added that McLaughlin's recollection prior to being shown the footage was that there had been a "perceived threat" from the victim when he raised his cutlery.

Furthermore, any contact was between his foot and the stool, and not Mr Sawyer's body, said the lawyer.

In urging the court to spare McLaughlin an immediate spell behind bars, Mr Rowley explained that he was self-employed, currently working at the site of a supermarket build in Sutton, Surrey, and lived with his teenage son who has severe ADHD.

But when it was suggested he would not be able to wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag on his ankle due to the pain he would be caused by his severe eczema, Judge Simon James retorted: "If he wears socks, he can wear something close to his skin.

"It might be unpleasant, but it would be as unpleasant as going to prison, is perhaps the riposte I can offer to him."

However, after a brief interlude to allow McLaughlin to speak with his lawyer, Judge James decided that a home detention curfew over Christmas and the New Year would afford the public any necessary protection from the defendant's "drunken temper".

Imposing the condition as part of a 26-week suspended jail term, the judge told him: "Your quite unnecessary drunken, violent and aggressive behaviour could so easily have had fatal consequences.

"In kicking the chair on which Mr Sawyer was sitting, you caused him, a stranger to you, to fall and knock his head and become unconscious.

"So many times I have seen that lead to death. He was rendered unconscious and yet you left apparently unconcerned for his safety, being more concerned in your drunken stupor that you might be barred from the pub.

"It seems only by good luck rather than any judgement on your part, and mercifully, no permanent injury was sustained and you don't face a more serious charge."

Explaining why McLaughlin could be spared immediate custody, Judge James said that while some may think he deserved prison, he could be punished in other ways.

Having been told the jail term would "hang over his head" for 12 months, he was also ordered to pay Mr Sawyer £500 compensation and carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

The home detention curfew, for which a tag can be fixed to his wrist, will last for two months between 9pm and 4am.

Before releasing McLaughlin from the dock, Judge James concluded: "You may be considering yourself unfortunate. There are others, I am sure, who will consider you, having watched the footage I have, to be fortunate not to be going into custody."

The court was informed by the probation service that an abstinence monitoring tag, which measures alcohol through sweat, can only be fitted to an ankle.