A Colchester man who repeatedly punched a bus driver in the face over a ticket dispute has been jailed.

Driver Marcin Figala had his £200 glasses broken, and suffered cuts to his face and a bruised forehead following the assault by John Kaye, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.

Grace Court, prosecuting, told the court that 37-year-old Kaye, of George Williams Way, had been refused permission to board the bus by Mr Figala, after being told his ticket was not valid.

“As a result of this he became aggressive towards the bus driver,” she said.

“He then punched the bus driver in the face five to seven times, causing his glasses to break.”

Kaye, who has one previous conviction for assault in 1995, made full admissions in an interview to the police after he was arrested.

He admitted two charges of destroying glasses worth £200 and common assault against Mr Figala at an earlier court hearing.

Julie Brice, mitigating, said her client was in custody over a separate matter to be heard next year, and said after that he was looking to make a “new start”.

Chairman of the bench Linda Barber handed Kaye a two-month sentence for the offences, and said his time in jail would have been doubled had he not made an early guilty plea.

“We take a very dim view that people doing their public duty get injuries of this nature,” she said.

“It’s not fair for somebody who is doing their job for all of us. The attack was unprovoked.”