A 16-year-old foreign student was pulled to the ground and kicked and punched by three youths as he walked home from a barbecue, a court has heard.

The student, who was attending a high school in Lowestoft and was due to return to China two weeks later, suffered a cut and grazes in the incident, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He was walking along Park Road at 11pm on June 14 and was passing the Prince Albert pub when he heard knocking on the window and turned to see a youth mouthing abuse at him, said Marc Brown, prosecuting.

The student continued on his journey and heard shouting and saw three men running towards him saying: “Let’s get him.”

One of the men pulled him to the ground and he was the punched and kicked, said Mr Brown.

The incident came to an end when a woman came to see what the commotion was outside her home.

Before the court were two youths aged 16 and 17 who admitted actual bodily harm. They were each ordered to do 80 hours’ unpaid work in the community and to pay £500 compensation. The younger defendant was given a two-month curfew and ordered to pay £250 costs and the 17-year-old was given a three-month curfew with six months supervision.

Sentencing the teenagers, who cannot be named because of their age, Recorder Richard Christie described the offence as a serious, unprovoked attack.