A man has told for the first time of his brutal ordeal at the hands of four thugs who stamped on him and kicked his head like a football.

Ceri Gibson, 19, spoke of his relief as his attackers were jailed yesterday after being condemned by a judge for the most "sickening example of an unprovoked, gratuitous, cowardly" attack he had ever seen.

Mr Gibson, from Eastbourne, told The Argus: "I wanted justice to be done and now it has. What they did to me was shocking. No normal person would behave like that. I just want to get on with my life now."

Mr Gibson and his friend Jack Hepburn had been on a night out in October when they were attacked in Eastbourne town centre.

They left the Tally Ho pub in Old Town and bought a KFC takeaway before being set upon on the way back to Mr Hepburn's house.

Terence Geraghty, 19, of Cornwallis Street, Hastings, Wayne Fryer, 21, of Castle Gardens, Hastings, Ian Hassan, 18, of Jenners Lane, Hastings and Daniel Willis, 19, of Morcas Place, Winchelsea, were jailed yesterday at Lewes Crown Court after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Fryer and Willis were handed 12-month sentences.

Geraghty, who had also admitted common assault after being captured by cameras stamping on Mr Gibson's head and kicking it like a football, also got 12 months. He had taken an ecstasy tablet, drunk six bottles of beer, four bottles of a vodka drink and some shots, the court heard.

Hassan, who wasn't involved in kicking Mr Gibson, got nine months.

Surveillance cameras captured them knocking Mr Gibson to the ground and attacking him as he curled into a foetal position.

As they were arrested and driven to a police station, they laughed and joked about it, the court heard.

Yet as the three-minute tape was played in court three times yesterday, none of them could watch it.

Mr Gibson said: "It is still all a bit of a daze. I remember walking past this group. One of them said something but I didn't realise they were talking to us.

"I remember turning round and seeing one of them talking to Jack. I walked back and said something like 'What's wrong here?'

"Then one of the blokes started jumping up and down like a boxer. It was like something from a Rocky movie. He said, 'Do you want some as well?' I said, 'What do you mean?'

"That's when it all became a blur. The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital."

Eloise Marshall, prosecuting, said Mr Gibson could have been killed in the attack. The 6ft plasterer, who lives with his parents and younger sister, was left unconscious. He still suffers double vision and headaches and has been forced to give up driving.

Judge Richard Brown said: "What happened on that night was totally unacceptable. I have had the benefit of studying this incident on CCTV and there is no room for any dispute as to what actually happened.

"I don't think I have ever seen a more sickening example of an unprovoked, gratuitous, cowardly and, no doubt, drunken attack, upon an innocent man in a public place.

"I am not surprised that none of you could bring yourselves to watch your actions when the video was replayed in this court.

"People must be free to walk the streets of this country, day or night, without being subjected to this type of ruthless and mindless mob-handed violence."

Counsel for the defendants said they expressed remorse and had acted out of character.

Roger Booth, for Geraghty, said his devout Roman Catholic mother had been so appalled by her son's actions she could not bear to attend court.

Alice McCarney, for aspiring Army recruit Willis, said it was "a moment of madness" that resulted in him cutting his alcohol intake to a pint a week.

Mr Gibson, who now rarely goes out in Eastbourne town centre, was also attacked last November as he and a friend came out of a pool hall.

Detective Constable Bill Simons, who led the investigation into the latest attack, said: "When I asked the young men in interview how much they had drunk that night, all said not very much.

"But after showing them the CCTV, all of them, without exception, put their heads in their hands and said they didn't realise how bad it was. They simply couldn't remember."