A thug who left a journalist fighting for his life after stamping on his head has been jailed for four years.

Mohammed Islam, 19, put Joseph Wobij in a three week coma after punching him to the ground and stamping twice on his head as he walked home from a night out on Brick Lane in December last year.

The Sunday Times journalist suffered a fractured skull, and doctors thought he was going to die.

He has recovered from his injuries, but has been left with no sense of taste or smell, as well as ongoing psychological trauma.

Islam, of Pennyfields, Poplar, floored Mr Wobij with a single punch after an argument. He then returned and twice stamped down on his head as he lay unconscious on the floor.

A passerby attempted to intervene but was threatened with violence by the teenager.

Islam was persuaded to leave the scene in Toynbee Street by his friends, who were arrested the next day after police studied CCTV footage. On hearing of the arrests, Islam handed himself in.

Sentencing him to four years in a young offenders institute at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Murray Shanks said: “Mr Wobij had been drinking and it seemed he was probably quite the worse for wear.

“You punched him to the ground and when he was on the ground you proceeded to stamp on his face with full force at least two times, and it was that caused his injuries, which were serious even within the context of grievous bodily harm.

“While he seems to have recovered I have no doubt this has affected his very seriously both physically and mentally.”

Islam admitted one count of causing grievous bodily harm.