Joth Singh had been freed early from prison when he punched Eric Wingate to the ground in Edinburgh after a brief argument then drove off leaving him lying unconscious.

Mr Wingate, 31, was rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain, and underwent emergency surgery to fit titanium plates in his head.

Singh, who pleaded guilty to the assault last month, had been released early from a 33-month sentence for acting as a drug courier in 2005 when he attacked Mr Wingate. At Edinburgh Sheriff Court today, Sheriff Douglas Allan jailed Singh for 17 months for the assault.

Mr Wingate, from Australia, was walking along the Cowgate after attending a dinner at the Institute of Civil Engineers in the city in November last year.

Singh's car appeared beside him and stopped and Mr Wingate collided with it then kicked the vehicle. Singh, who had passed his driving test just two days earlier, got out and walked round to the pavement and punched his victim in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Mr Wingate was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where doctors said he would have died had he not been given emergency brain surgery.

Sheriff Allan said although Mr Wingate had provoked Singh by kicking his car, he was not justified in assaulting him.