Pub brawler was on court bail

MAN, 44, RECEIVES A SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR HIS SECOND BOUT OF VIOLENCE

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

Took place at The Crusader pub, in Hartness Road, Clifton

A BIRTHDAY party at a pub descended into a mass brawl during which a man was punched unconscious and a glass was smashed over someone's head.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that “terrified” drinkers were locked outside The Crusader, in Clifton, during the 17-minute melee.

At its conclusion, no-one wanted to give police a statement, but three men were identified and charged.

One, 44-year-old Ashley Coles, was on court bail at the time for an earlier fight in a different Clifton pub in which he fractured a dog owner's jaw with a single punch.

Imposing a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, Recorder Rupert Jones KC said: “You attacked, kicked and punched people in the pub and did so even as they lay on the ground unconscious.

“People were locked out of the pub and a number of others called the police.