A man who left his best friend with a broken jaw after kicking him in the face during a row over the score in their squash game has walked free from court after saving up the cash for the man’s treatment.

Dean Williams, of Kennilworth Gardens, Melksham, who is trained in kung fu, was told he would not be jailed if he came up with £3,648 the victim needed to pay for dental work.

And after hearing the 33-year-old had handed over £3,700 which he saved over three months, a judge kept his word and imposed a suspended sentence.

It means victim Liam Walsh can now use the cash to undergo six months of treatment to realign his bite following the incident.

Branding the case unusual, Judge Euan Ambrose, sitting at Swindon crown court on Friday, passed a nine-month sentence suspended for a year.

And he told Williams, who works as a foreman to carpenters on a building site, to do 150 hours of community service.

Williams landed the heavy blow as his pal bent over to pick up his racquet when they squabbled over who had won more games in their squash match.

The pair had been best friends for five years, with the defendant even once living with Mr Walsh and his girlfriend.

However, they fell out over the score after one of their regular games at the Castle Place Leisure Centre in Trowbridge on November 10 last year.

When Mr Walsh bent over, Williams kicked him to the face smashing one of his teeth and leaving him with two fractures to the jaw.

With blood pouring from the wounds he was rushed to hospital where a metal plate had to be inserted into his face.

The attack also left his bite misaligned, which will take months of expensive dentistry to repair with the use of braces.

Although he has been through operations to insert plates and then to remove the wires supporting them, Mr Walsh still needed the expensive dental work to realign his bite.

James Byrne, prosecuting, told the court earlier this year: “They entered into a rather silly discussion about who was winning: a discussion about whether they had played three or four games.”

Williams, formerly of Methuen Way, Melksham, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm.

Andrew Eddy, defending, told the court in March: “Mr Williams is absolutely ashamed and sorry for what he has done to what was his best friend. He on this occasion for some unknown reason had a total moment of madness over what was a very minor argument. He realises now he was wrong anyway.”