A bottle-brandishing thug who left an 18-year-old having to wear dentures after knocking out his teeth has been locked up for more than two years.

Canterbury Crown Court heard Bobby Green repeatedly punched the teenager after trying to mug him and a friend while they were on a night out celebrating a birthday.

At the time of the unprovoked attack in Broadstairs, Green was on bail to two different courts for burglary, theft and knife offences, with a condition that he live in local authority accommodation.

The 17-year-old was also in flagrant breach of an electronically-monitored curfew when he violently assaulted his victim near The Dolphin pub in Albion Street at around 11.30pm on March 3.

Prosecutor Patrick Dennis told the court Green and an unnamed accomplice were captured on CCTV running up to the two teenagers before demanding their belongings and threatening to stab them if they refused to hand them over.

Although a knife was never produced, Mr Dennis said the two boys were "in fear" when one of their assailants reached into their trouser waistband.

Green then punched the teen twice in the face after his accomplice had grabbed the other by the arm.

"The defendant ran away and was chased by the victim, only for the defendant to stop and punch him three more times in the face," the prosecutor told the court.

"The victim later stated the defendant was brandishing a bottle and the CCTV shows him holding a glass bottle.

"But while it is not said by the victim that he was hit with the bottle and the CCTV doesn't distinctively show the defendant hitting him with the bottle, the prosecution say it can be inferred it was used."

The victim was said to have suffered "extensive damage" to his teeth. Three were knocked out, a fourth was broken and two sustained nerve issues, said Mr Dennis.

He now has to wear dentures and, due to his young age, must wait four years before he can undergo further dental treatment.

In his victim impact statement read to the court, the teenager said he was "reminded every day" of the brutal attack and left feeling "overwhelmed" psychologically.

"I have found the time since the attack quite difficult - taking a phone call from police or witness care reminds me of the impact this is having on my life," he wrote.

"Every day for the rest of my life I will have reminders of the attack, not only through the physical look of my teeth but also over the next four years the need to remove and clean the denture.

“Your victim now has to use dentures at the age of 18. Because of his age he cannot get his teeth fixed for another four years...”

"I am so angry that this happened to me. I know I chased him but that never gave him the right to cause the damage. He was trying to rob me.

"His actions have left me with lifelong teeth injuries for which I did nothing to deserve."

Green, of York Road, Herne Bay, was identified from the CCTV footage and arrested 12 days later. Police found him sitting on a sofa smoking cannabis.

At the time of the violent mugging bid, he was on magistrates' court bail for a charge of possessing a knife in a public place, as well as awaiting sentence at the crown court after admitting offences of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to burgle.

These related to a six-week crime spree in August and September last year in which Green was part of a gang who netted a reported £100,000 from breaking into homes - often while the residents were asleep - and thieving cars, number plates, bank cards and fuel in Herne Bay, Whitstable, Faversham, Sturry and Chestfield.

Green also pleaded guilty to two offences of attempted robbery and one of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Locking him up on Tuesday for a total of two years and five months, Judge Simon Taylor KC told Green he had "led the way" in the violent attack.

"Your victim now has to use dentures at the age of 18. Because of his age he cannot get his teeth fixed for another four years," he said.

"For someone in their teenage years that must feel like a lifetime."

But Judge Taylor added he was sentencing him on the basis the injury had been caused by punches rather than the bottle.

He also told Green he had been "a key conspirator" in the theft and burglary spree.

Ben Irwin, defending, told the court his client had had no formal schooling since the age of nine, was homeless at 15, and "fell into criminality" as a result of his personal circumstances.

But he added that although Green had initially struggled with being remanded in custody, it was "now turning into something of a positive experience" for him.