A SOLDIER who served in Afghanistan was "mannerless and rude" before battering two men who bumped into him at a railway station, a judge heard.

Allan Turner-Ashman reigned kicks and punches onto friends Toby Lee and Charles Upritchard when they clashed after a night out.

The friends had followed the 25-year-old into the toilet at Reading Station after a verbal exchange.

However, Mr Lee spent days in hospital after sustaining serious injuries to his face after the attack on September 13 last year.

Recorder John Bate-Williams jailed Turner-Ashman for 12 months and told the physical education trainer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst: "A message needs to be sent to you and others that this kind of behaviour will not be met without a custodial sentence."

Richard Partridge, prosecuting on Thursday, said: "This was a sustained assault on two individuals in the toilets at Reading train station resulting in a number of injuries to both the two victims."

Recorder Bate-Williams said: "Perhaps unwisely they retraced their steps wanting to rebuke you.

"You punched him and knocked him to the ground and kicked him with some force."

He then heard how the assault moved onto Mr Upritchard who was hit with "haymaker" punches.

Recorder Bate-Williams made reference to the 25-year-old's "brave service" but said his military occupation should have instilled a sense of self discipline.

He said: "It should have led to a simple 'sorry mate' on both sides."

Jerome Silva, defending, said: "It was a thoroughly nasty experience and he [Mr Lee] is not to blame but it is interesting that he follows this defendant, in no doubt to accuse him of being mannerless and rude."

Turner-Ashman, who enlisted in the army aged 19, served a tour of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, starting in 2009 where we worked on reconnaissance, driving tanks and on foot patrols.

Mr Silva said: "As a result of his time in Afghanistan there have been some mental health issues. They have not been clearly diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder or anything of that ilk but there is a history of him having difficulty controlling his anger."

Turner-Ashman, of Combermere Barracks, St Leonards Road, Windsor, was convicted by a jury in September after denying two counts of causing actual bodily harm.