Samuel Giffard Aubin (31), of Clairvale Road, also put the child in a headlock and pushed him to the floor during the incident, with the child eventually managing to get away, the Magistrate’s Court heard.
He pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to a nine-month binding-over order by Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris.
Mr Harris said the defendant had had problems and had been receiving support from a social worker.
He said: ‘If something happens like this you have to think how do you respond.
‘The young lad was frightened by what happened. He shouldn’t have been doing what he was, but that is no excuse to assault him.
‘I am sure you don’t want to be here or come back to court again.’
Centenier Tony Batho explained that in October last year a young boy was playing hide and seek, and was sitting on a wall while tapping his foot on a bin.
The defendant’s mother went outside and asked him to stop and some words were exchanged before his brother went out and swore at the child.
It was then that Aubin went out and punched the child to the left side of his head and put him into a headlock.
The victim fell to the floor and shouted for help. As he tried to get away, Aubin punched him to the back of the head.
The child managed to get to a friend’s house, where he rang the police and told officers he had been scared because his attacker was a grown adult. Aubin, who did not have legal representation in court, said he should not have attacked the boy.
