A TEENAGER broke another teenager's jaw twice in an argument over a football, York Crown Court heard.

Louis William Dodds-Rodgers felled the victim to the ground with a single blow on Little Knavesmire, said Michael Cahill, prosecuting.

He also filmed the boy bleeding from the mouth after the punch and insulted him.

The injured boy needed surgery under a general anaesthetic to have two plates inserted into his jaw.

Now college student Dodds-Rodgers must pay the victim £1,200 compensation and is on a suspended prison sentence for the next 18 months.

"It must have been a heavy blow," Judge Simon Hickey told him. "You broke his jaw in two places."

Dodds-Rodgers, now 18, of Jasmine Close, New Earswick, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Mr Cahill said both teenagers were 17 and with different groups on Little Knavesmire on July 21, 2020.

The victim's group were kicking a football about and chatting until about 6pm, they realised that Dodds-Rodgers' group had got hold of their football.

When they went to reclaim it, an argument broke out with both groups claiming the ball belonged to them.

After some pushing and shoving, Dodds-Rodgers punched the victim to the ground.

As he fell, the injured boy knew immediately he had lost a tooth.

Dodds-Rodgers' friends walked him away from the scene to prevent further trouble.

In April 2021, Dodds-Rodgers was convicted of three charges of assaulting three emergency workers in a separate incident.

The judge said Dodds-Rodgers had called his video of the injured boy: "knocked his teeth out".

Because the victim's body was still growing the injury would have affected him more than if he had been an adult.

He said Dodds-Rodgers had been a risk to others at the time but had since changed.

"I think you were a very immature young man and you have grown up considerably since," he told the defendant.

Dodds-Rodgers had caused added anguish to the victim by not pleading guilty until shortly before he was due to stand trial.

The judge passed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months on condition Dodds-Rodgers does 200 hours' unpaid work.

For Dodds-Rodgers, Andrew Petterson said he had never been in trouble before the incident.

He handed in several references which the judge said showed a different side to the defendant.

Last Spring, in an unrelated incident on Little Knavesmire, a 16-year-old boy was injured when dozens of youths congregated on the stretch of grass between Knavesmire and Albemarle Road. Local residents claimed there had been other incidents.

There is no suggestion Dodds-Rodgers was involved in the 2021 incidents.

In response, police put dispersal orders in place and mounted extra patrols in the area for some time.