A MAN left his best friend fighting for his life after breaking his skull when he attacked him as they celebrated their 30th birthdays.

Engineers Mark Heggie and Michael Thorpe, both of Redcar, had been marking their milestones with a trip to York.

Moments before the incident in Blake Street, on September 17, last year, at about 5pm, the pair had been throwing chips in a crowded McDonald’s restaurant when Mr Thorpe had thrown a milkshake over Heggie, leading Heggie to punch a 15-year-old boy standing in the queue who laughed at the pair’s behaviour.

Nicoleta Alistari, prosecuting, said Heggie followed Mr Thorpe out the resaurant and punched him in the face and Mr Thorpe fell and his head hit the ground “with a loud crack”, knocking him unconscious.

“Fortunately for him, a passer-by happened to be a doctor,” said Miss Alistari.

Mr Thorpe underwent brain surgery, needed 79 staples and 80 stitches, and spent nearly a fortnight in hospital.

He has been left unable to work, smell or taste anything, struggles to do simple things, cannot drive and fears that he has lost his “high-flying career”.

Heggie, of Wilton Castle Lane, Wilton Village, Redcar, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Thorpe and assaulting the boy.

Chloe Farley, mitigating, said: “He is going to have to live with what happened for the rest of his life. But for alcohol this would never have happened.”

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, told Heggie: “If ever there is a case that demonstrates the folly of young men such as yourself drinking to excess during the day here in the city of York, why then this is it. This is rightly described as a human tragedy, most of all it is tragic for your victim.”

He gave Heggie a two-year jail term, suspended for two years “as an act of mercy”, and ordered him to pay £5,000 compensation to Mr Thorpe and £300 compensation to the boy, and complete 250 hours’ unpaid work.