A BOOZE-fuelled bully barged into a teenager's house late at night and punched him unconscious, York Crown Court heard.

Simon Batiste, prosecuting, said attacker Ricky Ferguson locked the front door behind him to prevent the teenager's close friend from getting back into the house where Ferguson's victim had been sleeping.

Only after he had battered the 16-year-old to the ground, did Ferguson re-open the door and escape. The attacker had drunk 20 to 24 cans of lager in the hours before the assault.

Window cleaner Ferguson, 19, of Elston Close, Clifton, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and was ordered to pay £500 compensation to the 16-year-old. He was also ordered to pay a £500 fine and £500 prosecution costs, a total court bill of £1,500. "You clearly behaved like a thug," Judge Jim Spencer QC told Ferguson. "You had been drinking all day and were throwing your weight about against a boy younger than you. Even now he is only 16, and you are built like a man. It is a pity you cannot act like one. You start behaving yourself from now and leave cans of lager to someone else."

Mr Batiste said the 16-year-old and his friend had gone to their beds when Ferguson and his accomplice, Benjamin Chalk, 19, banged on their Clifton front door at 2.20am on October 7.

The friend went downstairs to answer the door, and after seeing who it was ran to warn the 16-year-old. The friend returned downstairs to tell Ferguson that the teenager would not see him and was pulled out of the building by Ferguson. Then Ferguson barged into the house, locking the door behind him while Chalk held on to the friend.

The teenager had gone downstairs and Ferguson punched him twice on the cheekbone, knocking him unconscious. The victim had cuts, bruises and swelling to his face and head.

Taryn Turner, mitigating, said there had been a "disagreement" between the 16-year-old and Ferguson in the past and the teenager had contacted Ferguson during the evening. Ferguson was ashamed of his actions.

Chalk was bound over for 12 months. He denied a charge of violence related to the incident.