A curry waiter who hit a colleague with a lump of wood in an argy-bhaji at an Indian restaurant has escaped jail.

Shamim Hussain suffered a cut ear and bruising after he was attacked by Shabaj Miah.

The confrontation happened in Western Road, Brighton, after bad feeling between the two men, a court heard.

Both men worked at the Bombay Indian restaurant in nearby Preston Street, in April last year.

David Povall, prosecuting, said Miah, 24, felt Mr Hussain, the owner's son, had been treating him unfairly.

There was a confrontation between them outside Sainsburys store in Western Road on April 25, last year.

Mr Hussain claimed he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by the other waiter.

Miah, of Willingdon Parade, Patcham, Brighton, denied causing Mr Hussain grievous bodily harm.

He claimed that Mr Hussain had initially attacked him with a piece of wood but dropped it.

He told the jury he had picked it up and hit Mr Hussain in self-defence but accepted he had "gone over the top".

Miah was found guilty after a two-day trial in May and appeared at Hove Crown Court for sentence today (Thursday). Richard Barton, defending, said Miah had no previous convictions and was now working part-time elsewhere.

Mr Barton said: "This has clearly been a shocking experience for someone who was previously of good character."

Judge David Rennie said: "I have not been able to rule out the possibility that what you described to the jury, that you were the victim of the initial aggression, may be true.

"Something like this has never happened to you before, has not happened since and I don't believe it is likely to ever happen again.

"You appear to have good insight into what happened and will no doubt learn a harsh lesson from having been brought to court and, for the first time in your life, having a criminal record.

"But because this did involve the use of a weapon in a situation where you could have left the scene without further violence there cannot be a conditional discharge in this case."

Miah was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work and must pay £400 towards prosecution costs.