Judge told only offence victim could have caused was with his 'vigorous' dancing after John Lewis, 28, punched him outside the nightspot
A boxer broke the jaw of a soldier who was celebrating his child’s christening at a Teesside nightspot.
The victim endured “five months of pain” after the attack, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The only offence he could have caused was with his “vigorous” dancing, a judge was told yesterday.
The Army soldier was with friends at Flares nightclub in Middlesbrough after the christening.
Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth said: “On his own admission he was drunk.
“There is little evidence that he was behaving in a bad way, save that his friend spoke of him dancing in a particularly vigorous manner.”
The soldier was outside having a cigarette when he was confronted by boxer John Lewis at about midnight on July 28 to 29 last year.
Lewis pushed him to the chest and struck him once to the face, breaking his jaw in two places.
The injured man was taken to hospital and had an operation. He said he still felt pain and loss of feeling in his jaw five months later.
He did not know his assailant but Crimestoppers received an anonymous call identifying Lewis, who was then picked out at an identification procedure.
Lewis, of Roworth Road, Thorntree, Middlesbrough, at first denied the assault but later pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He had three previous assaults on his record, all in pubs or clubs, all earning him conditional discharges.
Robert Mochrie, defending, said: “This was one punch, no doubt delivered in anger. Mr Lewis is not a man who has been involved in terrorising the streets of Middlesbrough bullying people who frequent public houses.
“It’s certainly not the case that he’s just approached a completely random person for no reason whatsoever and proceeded to assault him. There was at least some form of confrontation.”
He said Lewis was “not the most eloquent of people” and had struggled with dyslexia.
Judge Howard Crowson told Lewis: “Perhaps he was dancing in a way that caused offence to some, perhaps not to others.
“For some reason outside you felt badly towards him.
“What you did was a gross over-reaction to any offence he might have caused. It resulted in him having five months of pain.
“It seems to me that boxers are trained, and should be trained, to keep that kind of sport in its proper environment.”
He gave Lewis an 18-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision and 180 hours’ unpaid work.
He added: “A failure is a choice for prison so don’t test me on it. You’ve come very close to getting locked up.”
He ordered Lewis to pay £500 compensation to the victim, an amount limited by his means as he relied on benefits.
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