A THUG from Great Harwood who split a man's lip after a chat on a bus has kept his freedom.

Blackburn magistrates heard when the victim asked Adrian James Guilfoyle why he had attacked him, he hit him again.

Guilfoyle, 20, of Noble Street, Great Harwood, pleaded guilty to assaulting Imran Nawaz causing him actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to 100 hours community punishment, made subject to a 12-month community rehabilitation order and ordered to pay £500 to his victim.

Peter Wild, prosecuting, said Guilfoyle and a friend got on the bus at the same time as Mr Nawaz. They did not know each other but struck up a conversation that a witness described as "light-hearted."

As Mr Nawaz was leaving the bus, Guilfoyle suddenly hit him very hard in the face. "As Mr Nawaz got up he asked Guilfoyle why he had hit him and the reply was another punch," said Mr Wild. "This was effectively an unprovoked attack."

Sara Lyle, defending, said there were a number of different accounts but her client accepted he hit his victim twice. She said Guilfoyle, who hopes to join the Royal Marines, had apologised.