A DOORMAN who repeatedly aimed kicks at Saints' Sia Soliola has been given a suspended jail term.

Christopher Rose, 34, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, at Liverpool Crown Court today.

It follows violence that erupted in the foyer of the Imperial Bar, Ormskirk Street, in March last year.

CCTV captured the moments Rose, from Speke, unleashed "six or seven" kicks at Mr Soliola, who was lying prone on nightclub stairs after becoming embroiled in a confrontation with three bouncers.

Soliola, a 27-year-old Kiwi rugby league international, suffered a fractured eye socket during the violence, though it is not clear which blow actually caused the injury.

Rose had claimed self defence and denied the charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm, but he was found guilty by a jury following a trial last month.

Sentencing, Judge Brian Lewis said: “The jury, having seen the DVD, can have been in no doubt about the ferocity of the violence you used towards Mr Soliola.

"No doubt he was provocative but by the time he was on the floor by the stairs he was helpless.

"There were three of you around him and he was no threat at that point.

"You only have to look at the film to see you kick him quite calculatedly – (taking your leg) straight back you picked your spot and kicked him time and time again - six or seven times.

"You are extremely fortunate not to be facing a more serious charge involving a very long prison sentence.

"Thankfully for you and Mr Soliola the injuries, although serious, they are not dangerous or life threatening."

Judge Lewis reminded Rose that he and his colleagues had become embroiled in a fight when, as doormen, they were “employed to keep the peace”.

He added that the “use of feet as a weapon is reprehensible” and said it was a fine balance over whether to send him directly to jail.

However, Rose’s previous good character – aside from a conditional discharge for an assault in 2005 – and the fact he had always worked counted in his favour.

Additional to the suspended prison sentence, father-of-one Rose, a landscape gardener, must also carry out 200 hours unpaid work and pay £350 compensation.

He warned Rose: “You have come very close to the clanging of the gate.”

Rose’s colleagues Lee Simpson, 25, and Keiran Waters, 25, were both found not guilty of the same charge following the trial.