A TEENAGE soldier who embedded a pickaxe in the head of a superior on a training exercise near Warminster has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Judge Peregrine Simon told 18-year-old Private Grant Kenyon he committed a "savage and wholly disproportionate attack" which left Lance Corporal Konrad Bisping with devastating injuries.

Kenyon was cleared of attempted murder after a trial at Bristol Crown Court but was found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent.

At a sentencing hearing on Friday, the teenager heard how his pickaxe attack had shattered the life of a promising and talented soldier.

Judge Simon told Kenyon he could have faced a jail term of six-years or more, but took into account his age at the time.

"Your victim's family will be justified in thinking your sentence, no matter how long, will never be enough for the harm that you have caused," he said.

"This was not a spur of the moment attack. You had been clearly thinking about attacking him for some minutes.

"It was a wholly disproportionate attack with a vicious instrument to the unguarded head of your victim."

The axe struck L/Cpl Bisping's head with such force the point pierced his skull and travelled one-and-a-half inches into his brain.

The two soldiers, both from the Catterick-based First Battalion Queens Lancashire Regiment, clashed while on a three-day training exercise on Imber ranges in January.

Prosecuting barrister Robert Davies said 27-year-old L/Cpl Bisping, of Clitheroe, Lancashire, suffered permanent injuries including deep psychological trauma, vision loss and panic attacks.

During the trial Kenyon, of Blackburn, Lancashire, said he lashed out with the pickaxe after being struck in the mouth first, but had no intention to kill.

Kenyon has been moved from a young offenders institution to HMP Horfield in Bristol where he will start the remainder of his sentence.