A teenager who hurled a brick through a car window leaving a passenger with life-threatening injuries, has been jailed for more than four years.

Rizwan Atcha was so badly injured in the attack that doctors feared he would die.

He has been left with permanent scars and speech problems.

Ghulum Umar Farooq, aged 19, of, Great Lever, was jailed for four years and three months at Bolton Crown Court.

He had been found guilty of wounding with intent.

Police believe the attack was unprovoked, despite Farooq's claims during his three-day trial, that he had only wanted to damage the car and scare off the driver, whom he claimed had assaulted him on an earlier occasion.

After Farooq had been sentenced, Mr Atcha, aged 21, said: "This sentence wasn't enough.

"My life will always be affected by his actions yet in two years he will be free and carry on as normal.

Mr Atcha added: "I had a 70 per cent chance of dying and my life will always be affected by this.

"It will impede my progress yet his quality of life will remain the same

"I am going to try to live my life to the full but it is very difficult for me."

Farooq, hurled the brick through the window of a Toyota Corolla on Quebec Street, Deane, on Thursday June 16 at 8.30pm.

The brick hit Mr Atcha, of Westerton Court, Deane, in the left side of his head and fractured his skull.

Doctors at the Royal Preston Hospital performed life-saving emergency surgery to reduce the swelling to his head as he lay in a coma.

Bolton Crown Court heard that Mr Atcha had been forced to stop work as a customer service adviser at telecommunications firm O2 in Bury.

Jonathan Dickinson, prosecuting, said Mr Atcha had suffered short-term memory loss, speech impediment, damage to his eye and a long scar behind his left ear.

"Previously he was an outgoing character and he says that all that has now been taken away from him," he said.

Graham Robinson, defending, said: "The defendant said to me that he has ruined the life of Mr Atcha and his own life."

Judge Elliott Knopf said: "This was a costly piece of violence.

"Just what was going on that evening is not clear but what is clear is that you threw a brick at the car with intent to cause serious harm."

Det Insp Alex Millett of Bolton CID, said: "This was unprovoked attack on a young man who has been left with horrendous injuries and could have died.

"The defendant claimed that he had been involved in some sort of violent incident earlier on that night but there is no evidence to substantiate that claim."