A YOUNG man who broke a friend's skull and left him with permanent hearing loss has been jailed.

Andrew Paul Dobson, 27, felled the victim with a single punch as he left the Spread Eagle in Walmgate, York, said Chris Moran, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

As he walked away, leaving the victim unconscious on the ground bleeding from nose and ear, he encountered the victim's girlfriend.

He told her twice: "I've knocked your boyfriend out" and told her where the victim was.

The blow had broken the base of the victim's skull, caused bleeding on the brain and damaged his hearing so badly, he now wears a hearing aid, said Mr Moran.

For Dobson, Emma Downing said he was full of remorse. At the police station following his arrest, he had asked officers the victim's conviction with the words: "He's my mate, is he ok?"

Dobson, of Amberley Street, off Poppleton Road, York, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm. He has a previous conviction for GBH and other offences of violence.

Mr Moran said several of his previous convictions involved hitting people in the face.

Judge Simon Hickey told him: "Here I have to deal with you for another offence of what seems to be an inexplicable case of violence."

He jailed him for 18 months.

Miss Downing said Dobson and the victim had been drinking peacefully together shortly before the assault.

Mr Moran said the two had argued and Dobson had left the pub. The victim had finished his drink and left, but as he went outside, Dobson punched him heavily to the left side of his face, knocking him out.

Miss Downing said Dobson had mixed with the wrong crowd when he was younger, but since his conviction for GBH in 2012, had distanced himself from them and got a job.

But following the death of his grandfather, he had started drinking again.

Since the Walmgate incident, he had stopped drinking altogether and was setting up his own window cleaning business.