A THUG who violently attacked a member of staff at a Widnes railway station has been jailed for 21 months.

Stephen Cunningham, 43, of Wood Street, Seaforth, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to assault at Chester Crown Court on January 7.

The incident happened at Hough Green station, on Sunday, April 20, 2014, shortly after 10pm.

CCTV at the station showed the victim leave the booking office.

He and Cunningham, who was sitting in the booking hall, are seen to exchange words before Cunningham follows him out of the station and viciously assaults him.

The victim has been left physically and mentally scarred.

A British Transport Police investigation resulted in officers tracing the cab that had earlier dropped Cunningham at the station.

They identified him and traced his address through his pay as you go mobile telephone number.

Cunningham was arrested and at first denied the assault in a police interview, claiming he had not been to Widnes.

He admitted he was the man in the CCTV but denied following the victim saying he had simply left the station.

Cunningham changed his plea at a later hearing and admitted the assault.

DC Jeff Preston, who led the investigation said: “This was a vicious and unprovoked assault on a man who was simply doing his job and cleaning up before closing up the station.

“Cunningham’s victim has been left scarred both physically and mentally by what happened to him that evening and the sentence handed down to him reflects the severity of his attack.

“Assaults and violence towards station staff will not be tolerated. Those who work on the rail network should be able to do so without fear of violence and intimidation.

“As in this case, we will use all means available to bring offenders to justice.”