A 23-year-old has been jailed for 12 weeks after punching a man at the Outback pub.
Adam Lee Hine admitted common assault with the offence being committed while he was already subject to community service and probation for previous offences.
We previously reported that Hine and the victim had known each other for around five years when they bumped into each other at the Outback on August 22.
The victim said that Hine told him that he wanted to have a fight with someone, so he told Hine to go home and said that he was welcome to talk to him anytime.
He then encountered Hine again in the smoking area later where he was said to be shouting aggressively.
The man again told Hine to go home but later, while he was on the dancefloor, Hine approached again and hit him in the back of the head with a fist.
Hine left but was later arrested after police spoke to him in relation to another matter.
When interviewed he gave ’no comment’ responses to all questions.
A probation report said that Hine had rated himself as ’eight out of 10’ on a scale of how drunk he was at the time of the assault.
Defence advocate Matthew Wilshaw said: ’The probation report shows what triggered the aggression. Comments had been made and Mr Hine has been angered by these.
’Having viewed the CCTV it is clear he wanted to leave the Outback but his flatmate had the only key and he didn’t want to leave.’
Mr Wilshaw said that Hine’s flatmate had been dancing in a group which included the victim.
’He made the stupid decision to throw a punch,’ said the advocate.
’He threw it in the hope he and his flatmate would leave the Outback. There was no resulting fight, the bouncers didn’t get involved. He threw the punch and left.’
Mr Wilshaw asked the court to suspend any custodial sentence, saying that Hine was seeking employment and had a job interview later in the day, and would benefit from probation.
The court heard that Hine was sentenced to a 12-month probation order and 80 hours’ community service on November 4, 2020, after breaking a window at his ex-girlfriend’s home.
He also has a previous conviction for common assault in October 2019.
He was also fined in May 2021 for a criminal damage offence.
High Bailiff Jayne Hughes told Hine: ’Despite this you’ve gone on to offend by way of assault again. The probation report says you would benefit from input from Motiv8 and mental health services yet you’ve not engaged with them.
’Everything isn’t going to be done by someone else for you.’
No order for prosecution costs was made in light of the immediate custodial sentence.