Drunk PCSO kicked and punched man unconscious in unprovoked attack outside McDonald's at Leeds railway station

A newly-appointed police community support officer attacked a man outside McDonald's at Leeds railway station in a drunken unprovoked attack.

Matthew Dove, 27, punched the victim to the ground before kicking him as he was on the floor outside the fast food restaurant.

The victim was knocked unconscious during the late night incident on March 31 last year.

Just days before the attack Dove had been told his application to be a PCSO had been successful.

Leeds Crown Court heard it had been the fourth time Dove had applied to be a PCSO and it was his "dream" to be a policeman.

Dove and another man, Daniel Hutchinson, 29, attacked the man inside McDonald's before continuing the attack outside.

In a statement read to the court on behalf of the victim, he described how the attack had affected his mental health and he had been unable to play rugby for months after the incident.

Dove, Church Street, Littleover, Derby, and Hutchinson, of Nairn Avenue, Derby, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Nicola Hunter, for Dove, said Derbyshire Constabulary had accepted her client as a police support community officer just days before the attack.

She said Dove was initially trying to help get the victim out of McDonald's. She said: "One would have thought he knew better on this occasion."

Dove was given a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to the victim and pay £204 in prosecution costs.

Hutchinson was handed a 12-month community order and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £250 compensation to the victim and pay £204 in prosecution costs.

Recorder Joanne Kidd said: "The incident on that night in March last year was an unprovoked, ugly attack of public violence which clearly caused significant distress to those people who were around Leeds railway station that night.

"It is clear from the CCTV that there was no need for either or you to involve yourself in this particular incident.

"Dove, you behaved in a gratuitous and bullying fashion."

"You have had to live with the consequences of your gratuitous, violent behaviour that night.

"It is clear that you are full of remorse as to your conduct that night.

"Also, ironically, the impact and effect of the commission of this offence has had real long-standing consequences for you pursuing your dream of being a police constable."