A thug has been jailed for attacking a man on the steps of the statue of Humphry Davy on the centre of Penzance.

Michael Geddes attacked the man and they tumbled down the steps of the Davy statue in Penzance, Cornwall, before Geddes straddled him and punched him six times to the head.

Truro Crown Court heard Geddes admit causing grievous bodily harm to his victim, who needed hospital treatment for eye, hip and leg wounds.

Geddes, aged 30, of Penzance, was jailed for nine months by Judge Robert Linford, who told him that he had just overseen a case where a man was killed in a similar attack in Plymouth, Devon, and is now facing a life sentence for murder.

"You need to be very careful about the way in the future," said the judge.

The statue of Humphry Davy was erected in Penzance in 1872 - 43 years after his death - for his services to science and particularly the Davy lamp, which prevented explosions in mines saving many lives.