A THUG involved in a brawl so brutal a bouncer is still in a wheelchair has avoided jail.

Leo Westlake was one of an estimated 50 people involved in the riot outside Talk nightclub, Lucy Road, Southend.

The fight saw clubbers and door staff brawling for ten minutes with 26-year-old Westlake finally sentenced at Basildon Crown Court yesterday after the attack almost two years ago in April 2017.

CCTV showed a shirtless Westlake join others in kicking and punching one of the doormen while he was already on the ground.

The attack left the victim, who attended court in a wheelchair, with fractured vertebrae causing severe numbness in his limbs and partial paralysis.

Westlake was the only one caught and prosecuted and received a suspended sentence.

The victim however was left jobless, homeless and sleeping in his car as a result of the attack, before being helped at a night shelter.

He is still receiving physiotherapy for his injuries but still hopes to regain full use of his legs.

Westlake, of Alamein Gardens, Kent, admitted one count of affray and a second count of causing grievous bodily harm which will lay on file.

Judge John Lodge said: “You stand alone in the dock - you shouldn’t. This was group violence of a despicable nature.

“A number of people, fuelled with drink no doubt, took part in something that started over a trivial matter and ended up causing life-changing injuries to a man who was just doing his job. I accept that you are not the sole bearer of responsibility for the victim’s injuries.”

Westlake was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, given a six-month curfew between the hours of 9pm and 6am and is banned from entering a pub or club for 12 months.

He must also pay £1,200 in compensation to the victim.