A THUG who strangled a child and punched and kicked him when he was on the floor has been jailed.

Preston Crown Court heard 37-year-old Paul Anthony Grunshaw told the 14-year-old boy that if he told anybody about the assault ‘that would be the last of him’.

However, the brave victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told teachers at school the day after the November attack and they informed police.

Prosecuting, Stephen Parker said: “The defendant grabbed hold of his victim and threw him on the floor by his blazer collar.

“The victim said he landed on his side and banged his head.

“Lying on the floor and looking up he could see the defendant’s fist and feet. He felt repeated punches and kicks.

“It got to the point he couldn’t tell difference between punches and kicks.

“He sat up. The defendant kicked him in the face. His face went numb.”

Mr Parker said the victim did eventually manage to get up and run away to safety.

When examined at hospital, the victim was found to have scratch marks to his neck, swelling to his left cheek, and a five centimetre by three centimetre bruise to the right calf.

Grunshaw, of Parklands Way, Blackburn, who has a number of previous convictions for assaulting women, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Defending, Sarah Magill said her client has mental health problems which date back to when he found his baby sister deceased in her cot when he was nine.

She said his mental health was further impacted when his dad and brother both took their own lives.

Adding that Grunshaw wanted to apologise to the victim through her, Ms Magill said: “He is very determined when he lands in his new establishment to engage with the prison mental health services to address the issues which lead to his criminal behaviour.”

Sentencing Grunshaw to 20 months imprisonment, Judge Heather Lloyd said: “It appears you are a violent man with a short fuse.”

She praised the bravery of the boy for reporting Grunshaw.