'Each time I look in a mirror, I will be reminded of this until the day I die'

TEEN VICTIM LEFT WITH PERMANENT SCARRING TELLS COURT HOW ATTACK WILL AFFECT WHOLE LIFE

- By TOM MACK

A thug shattered the eye socket of a man who was on his first night out in Leicester, with a single punch.

Rooney Rubio had been at Waikiki nightclub, close to the market place in Leicester city centre, when he carried out the assault.

The incident happened days after Rubio's 18th birthday in August last year.

He punched his victim, who was 19, outside the club.

The attack has left the victim permanently disfigured.

Leicester Crown Court heard the victim had seven hours of surgery that was unable to fully repair the damage to his eye socket, jawbone and skull.

The court heard Rubio and the victim knew each other through football, but they had never spoken to each other before that night.

Prosecutor Lynsey Knott said CCTV showed the victim leave Waikiki, in Market Place Approach, and get out his phone shortly before the attack.

Rubio left the club moments later and, as he walked past the victim, grabbed his phone and walked off with it.

The victim chased after Rubio and put his arm around him to try to get his phone back.

The attack, which was not captured on CCTV, involved a single punch.

Rubio also threw the victim's phone on to the ground, smashing it.