A man has admitted a brutal attack on a young man in Surbiton town centre last year.

Surrey Comet:

Alan Banks, pictured posing with a police officer on his Facebook page

Alan Banks, 27, pleaded guilty to attacking a young man in what was initially said to be a homophobic attack, which left the victim with horrendous facial injuries on Halloween last year.

November 5 2014: Victim of brutal homophobic pink tutu attack tells other gay youngsters 'keep your chin up'

Retail worker Robbie Kingsford, who was 21 at the time, was attacked outside KFC in Brighton Road, Surbiton, as he was walking with a friend during the early hours of November 1.

The attack left Mr Kingsford, from Leatherhead, with two black eyes, bruises to the face and severe cuts.

A second victim who was 18 years old at the time also sustained facial injuries.

Banks, of Kinross Avenue, Worcester Park, changed his plea to guilty to one count of actual bodily harm on Tuesday, December 1. One count of exposure against Banks was dropped by the prosecution team.

Samuel Light, 27, of Westville Road, Thames Ditton, was also due to stand trial this week on one count of actual bodily harm, but the case was dropped against him because of a lack of evidence.

In one photo on his Facebook page, uploaded in May 2014, Banks, a former Hinchley Wood Secondary School pupil, and Samuel Light pose with pink face paint on a train.

After the attack police appealed for information about two white men dressed in pink tutus and the attack was said to be homophobic, but no charges relating to homophobia were ever brought.

A spokesman from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The defendant, Alan Banks, offered a guilty plea to assault occasioning  actual bodily harm on the basis that particular words he had used were not homophobic.

"We considered this plea and taking into account the views of the victim we decided that this plea was acceptable.”

Trainee Detective Constable Ann-Marie Hodgkiss said at the time: "This was a violent and unprovoked hate crime and I am appealing for anyone with any information about the incident to contact me.

"The two suspects were distinctively dressed, probably due to Halloween, and I would urge anyone who recognises their description and who may know who they are to contact me and help us trace them."

Surrey Comet:

Following the attack Brian Kingsford, Robbie's father, a cartaker at Kingston Council, set up Facebook group Red Alert to trace wanted criminals.

Since launching the page about 16,000 members have joined the group and it has expanded to include wider parts of the UK.

Banks is due to appear at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, January 6, for sentencing.