A THUG chased his victim, pelted him with eggs, then punched him to the floor after a row at a supermarket.

Gbenga Ibitoye inflicted a life-changing head injury on Paul Bonner just two days before Christmas in Brighton in 2016.

A jury at Hove Crown Court found him guilty of wounding without intent, and heard how the “red mist descended” after Ibitoye had been called a name.

CCTV footage showed him chasing after Mr Bonner and confronting him, and Ibitoye even encouraged his children to throw eggs at him during the shocking attack.

But he was spared a prison sentence by Judge Paul Tain at the sentencing hearing this week, then posed for a picture outside of court.

John McNally, prosecuting, said there was no disagreement about the classification of the offence while Selwyn Shapiro, defending, asked the judge to suspend the prison sentence.

The judge described the incident, where Mr Bonner’s partner had made a “silly remark” in the supermarket towards Ibitoye.

He said: “She profoundly regrets making that remark. Then effectively you chased after the victim, you had lost it.

“You may claim over-excessive self defence, but you were going after him to confront him. You got your kids to throw eggs at him, on the suggestion he had thrown eggs at you. That was absolute rubbish.”

The judge said that while 35-year-old Ibitoye probably did not intend anything more than a short confrontation and pushing, he did throw a punch that landed on Mr Bonner’s face.

He said: “What you should have done in response is to put your hands up to it, not make pathetic excuses about excessive self-defence.

“You claim to be a Christian. I do not know a great deal about Christianity, but I understand that you are meant to forgive, rather than chase someone and punch them to the floor.”

Ibitoye, of Saunders Park View in Brighton, was considered to be a man of previous good character, with no criminal convictions.

But the judge told him his good name is now gone, and he is now a criminal.

“I was asked to consider dangerousness, in my view you are a person of normal temperament, who has had the red mist come down. it’s not something that is going to happen again.”

A probation report suggested that he has children to look after and provide for.

The judge said the case passed the custody threshold, and imposed a two-year sentence which will be suspended for the next two years.

In the meantime Ibitoye will have to complete 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days, and a total of 200 hours of unpaid work.

The judge said that if he breaches the requirement or fails to complete the work, then the prison sentence will be activated.

“I won’t forget you, and I won’t forget this case, what you did was dreadful,” the judge warned him.