A teenager who hit a man on the head with a hammer in a Suffolk shopping centre has been given a suspended sentence.

Kevin Bell suffered an indentation to his skull and a 2cm wound after being attacked by Tay Morey in the Britten Centre In Lowestoft, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Morey, who was 17 at the time of the attack but is now 18, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Bell on September 29, 2019.

He was sentenced to 18 months detention in a young offenders’ institution suspended for two years and banned from contacting Mr Bell for two years.

Sentencing Morey, Judge Martyn Levett said he accepted he had used a hammer to hit Mr Bell in excessive self-defence.

He said Morey, of Marine Parade, Lowestoft, had been shouted at and approached by the victim before striking a single blow with the hammer which was recovered by police after he told them where it was.

Judge Levett said Morey hadn’t been in trouble since the attack.

Steven Dyble for Morey said there had been an exchange between his client and Mr Bell and Morey had got off his bike.

Morey had produced a hammer when Mr Bell started walking towards him and had struck him in excessive self defence.

After the attack Mr Bell had grabbed the defendant and hit his head against a glass window.