Adam Lane, 19, punched Tadeusz Zwaintage, 50, to the ground and kicked him.

The incident happened in broad daylight at a bus stop in the centre of Wakefield after Lane followed Mr Zwaintage from a cash machine.

The injuries were so severe that Mr Zwaintage needed an operation to have pins placed in his hip bone and has not been able to return to work.

Leeds Crown Court was told Mr Zwaintage had withdrawn £200 from the Nationwide Building Society cash point on The Springs when he was approached by Lane who shouted: "Give me my card. This is my money, not yours."

Mehran Nassiri, prosecuting, said Mr Zwaintage tried to get away, but was floored by a punch to the back of the head and then kicked.

The attack, which took place in February, only stopped after the intervention of a retired policeman and his daughter, an off-duty officer, who went to the victim's aid.

Mr Zwaintage was taken to Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, in "excruciating" pain with fractured vertebrae in his neck and damage to his hip.

Doctors have told him his injuries will stay with him for the rest of his life.

Arrested shortly after the attack, Lane, of Park Lodge Lane, Eastmoor, Wakefield, told police he had earlier put his card in the machine, but it was not returned. He had mistakenly accused Mr Zwaintage.

He pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was sent to a Young Offenders' Institution for 18 months.

Matthew Harding, mitigating, said: "Mr Lane in no way seeks to excuse his actions in relation to the misinterpretation that his cash card was stolen. But it offers some explanation.

"This young man feels genuine remorse. He does not seek to avoid or shift the blame onto anyone else."

Mr Harding told the court Lane said his acttions were out of character and asked for community-based punishment because his client had no previous history of violence.

But Recorder Peter Babb told Lane: "This offence involved a sustained attack which involved kicking a 50-year-old man on the floor.

"In my view there is only one possible outcome for this offence, which is an immediate custodial sentence."