A THUGGISH student who partially blinded a man in a street attack has been suspended from University Campus Suffolk (UCS).

Ben Redman – who avoided a jail sentence despite admitting grievous bodily harm on 53-year-old Stephen Hails – has been told to stay away from the university while it carries out a disciplinary investigation.

The move by education chiefs came as it emerged the 22-year-old undergraduate from Essex used to be an amateur boxer.

Victim Mr Hails, who welcomed the university’s decision, said he had received an e-mail from Basildon-based Chalvedon Boxing Club – of which Redman is understood to be a member – expressing its disgust at the attack.

Redman’s victim lost vision in his left eye and fractured his thumb and eye socket after being punched to the ground in Fore Street last December.

The upholsterer, reacting to the Redman’s suspension, said: “Yes, I welcome it and the last thing I want is him back in Ipswich, considering I live so close to the university.”

Judge David Goodin, during a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court last week, gave Redman a 12-month suspended sentence, ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and imposed a two-month night-time curfew on him at his mother’s address in Basildon.

But the judge stopped short of ordering Redman to pay his victim compensation, saying his “dire financial situation” rendered this pointless.

It has since emerged that Redman has been on two foreign holidays between the assault and his sentencing, prompting outrage from Evening Star readers.

“Some compensation order could have been given, I had a month off work and I don’t get paid for sickness,” added Mr Hails. “I’m a lot of money out of pocket.”

A spokeswoman for UCS said: “We are treating this incident very seriously and have suspended the student pending a disciplinary investigation.”