A 22-year-old man who beat a passenger with an axe handle in the ticket office at a railway station has been jailed for 16 months.

Usman Sultan repeatedly whacked Hasan Mumtaz with the weapon after chasing him in to Keighley station after they spat at one another in the street, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The public witnessed the attack, at 9.20am on January 22, including a mother, with a young child in a pram, who fled the scene in terror.

Sultan, of Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, pleaded guilty to causing Mr Mumtaz actual bodily harm in an attack labelled “mindless violence” by Judge John Potter yesterday.

Sultan admitted the offence at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court but was committed to the higher court for sentence.

He already had convictions for affray and using threatening behaviour.

Prosecutor Jo Shepherd told the court Sultan pulled up next to Mr Mumtaz in his red Audi S3 as he walked towards the station to take a train to Leeds.

The men exchanged insults and spat at one another.

Mr Mumtaz had bought his rail ticket when he saw a hooded man with a wooden axe handle approaching in the booking office.

He realised it was Sultan and grabbed him in a headlock but the defendant swung the weapon at his head. Mr Mumtaz suffered bruising to his arms when he raised them to protect himself.

Repeated blows were struck before rail staff intervened, warning Sultan that his actions were being captured on CCTV cameras.

He left the scene and Mr Mumtaz took a train to Leeds where he told police about the assault.

Peter Byrne said in mitigation that Sultan was spat at first and realised he had over-reacted: “He concedes it was entirely unacceptable behaviour in a public place.

Judge Potter imposed a restraining order banning Sultan from contacting Mr Mumtaz or going near his home. He said it was a sustained assault with a weapon, telling Sultan: “You are somebody who quickly resorts to violence when in temper.”