A student has been jailed for a year after violently attacking a man who "made him look stupid” by waking him up at the wrong train station.

Sam Pearce, of Rickmansworth Road, Pinner, hurled film maker Benjamin Kerr out of a carriage after the train had stopped at Luton's Parkway Station, at about 1.30am on June, 17 2015.

The 24-year-old, who was on a degree course in Bedford, was then caught on CCTV punching Mr Kerr multiple times in the head and kicking him in the chest, which broke his nose.

Mr Kerr had fallen asleep during the journey and awoke at St Albans thinking the train had arrived at its final destination, Bedford.

Seeing Pearce asleep, he nudged him awake to alert him that the train had reached Bedford and both men left the train.

Realising that the service was in fact at St Albans, both men then got back on, but this “frustrated” Pearce.

Between St Albans and Luton Airport Parkway station, he approached the victim and then began attacking him.

Pearce was found guilty on Monday, March 13 at St Albans Crown Court of assaulting and causing actual bodily harm to Mr Kerr, who is from Flitwick.

The jury took an hour to find Pearce guilty, even though he had claimed during the trial that he was acting in self-defence.

On Friday, March 17, he was sentenced to a year in prison.

Sergeant Stephen Bartlett said: “Pearce displayed overwhelming levels of aggression during this unprovoked and vicious assault. His defence was that he was getting back at the victim for making him look ‘stupid’. This is a totally unreasonable claim and he should be ashamed for his callous and reckless actions.

“The victim was simply trying to help Pearce by making sure he left the train at the final stop. He was apologetic for his mistake and was not expecting the violence that came next. As you can imagine this was an utterly terrifying experience for the victim who was left shaking on the platform. He thankfully sustained no long term injuries as a result of this assault.

“Pearce’s sentence reflects the severity of his actions and reinforces the message that attacks like this will always be dealt with severely. And we will do everything on our power to bring those responsible to justice.”