A labourer who shoved a man on to railway tracks admitted he had drunk six litres of cider before the attack.

Stuart McLean, 21, was jailed for 18 months for punching John Gibbs to the ground before pushing him off the platform at Crawley station.

Mr Gibbs touched a 750-volt live rail as he scrambled away from his attacker to the other side of the station.

McLean burst into tears in front of his pregnant girlfriend when Judge Charles Kemp, sentencing him at Lewes Crown Court yesterday, said the maximum jail term of two years for endangering a railway user was "woefully inadequate".

Reducing the sentence because of McLean's guilty plea, the judge said: "You shouted at Mr Gibbs and threw a punch.

"The man fell to the floor and, when he attempted to get up, you pushed him on to the railway line. He touched a live rail and received a shock.

"Fortunately for you he was not further injured. Fortunately for everybody a train was not coming.

"One cannot begin to imagine the horror and havoc that would have ensued if a train was there.

"You left the scene without bothering to see if the man was all right."

McLean had told the court he broke his back almost a year ago when five men hurled him on to railway tracks. He wore a back brace for a month and claimed the pain intensified the depression he was suffering.

The judge said: "You have been thrown from a railway bridge. How you could contemplate doing it to another man is beyond belief.

"You say you were under the influence of alcohol. You undoubtedly were but that does not excuse your actions.

"Your baby will be born in your absence - that is something you will have to think about in the future."

Orla Daly, prosecuting, showed CCTV footage from the station which clearly showed McLean attacking Mr Gibbs at 1pm on January 30.

She said McLean had gone to school with Mr Gibbs' brother and the victim identified him to police after making his escape.

Minka Braun, defending, said McLean, of South Holmes Road, Horsham, had attacked because he thought Mr Gibbs had stolen his bicycle.

Talking about the effect of McLean's own fall on to rail tracks, she said: "He tended to drink alcohol. It escalated in a way it had not before. He was drinking between three and four litres of cider every day.

"He accepts his actions on that day were so reckless, so dangerous and so foolish as to not attract sympathy from the court."

Detective Constable Mark Chambers said: "This victim was so lucky not to have been killed. The maximum jail sentence is inadequate for endangering the safety of train passengers. Clearly two years is not good enough."