A young man who broke another man’s nose at a tube station has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Mantas Apoukas, 24, of Westward Road in Chingford, pleaded guilty to the attack at Elephant and Castle underground station and was handed an eight-month suspended sentence on Wednesday.

He must also pay £1,000 compensation to the man he hit, assaulting him on the platform when the man intervened after Apoukas tried to touch the man’s wife.

Apoukas had been drinking and was approaching various women on the Northern line platform at about 10.30pm on September 21 last year.

Apoukas then went up to the 29-year-old man, making some remarks to him about his wife before trying to touch her.

The husband stood up and put his arm up in front of his wife, but Apoukas came closer and said he could kill the man within a minute, before pointing at the man’s face.

He then punched the man in the face,  leaving him with a bloody nose which the 29-year-old still has difficulty breathing through.

Detective Sergeant Stacey Hunt, of British Transport Police (BTP), said: “This was a vicious assault on a man who was protecting his wife from Mantas Apoukas’ unacceptable behaviour.

“The victim was left with a fracture which required him to wear a plaster cast on his face for a week.

“Incidents such as this are fortunately very rare on the London underground network and the chances of becoming a victim are very slim, but when they do happen, BTP takes them very seriously and will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice.”

Apoukas was also ordered by Blackfriars Crown Court to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community work and was left liable for the prosecution’s £500 costs.