FELIXSTOWE: A man who kicked his cousin in the head after mistakenly thinking he was attacking a 14-year-old boy has been jailed for 15 months.

Karl Benham from Felixstowe punched 25-year-old Nathan Phair in the face and then kicked him three or four times in the head and ear while he was on the ground after seeing him grab a schoolboy by the neck and take him to the ground, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Mr Phair had in fact been play-fighting with the boy and Benham later told police he had misread the situation. Benham, 21, of Garden Field, Felixstowe, admitted assaulting Mr Phair causing him actual bodily harm on December 4 last year and was jailed for 15 months.

Sentencing him Judge Peter De Mille said it was “sheer luck” Mr Phair’s injuries hadn’t been more serious.

Patricia Doggett, prosecuting, said Benham and Mr Phair were cousins and they hadn’t always got on with each other.

On December 4 Mr Phair and Benham had been in the grounds of Orwell School in Felixstowe when Mr Phair began play-fighting with a 14-year-old boy.

Benham had “gone” for Mr Phair and hit him in the face and kicked him three or four times in the head while he was on the ground.

As a result of the attack Mr Phair suffered a 3cm cut above his eye, which was glued, and a sore lip, nose and ear.

When police went to the scene of the attack they found Mr Phair shaking and covered in blood and mud, said Miss Doggett.

Benham later told police he had mistakenly thought what was happening was more than a play fight.

Richard Wood, for Benham, said his client had misconceived what was going on.

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