A man who assaulted another male on the dance floor of a Tenby pub after celebrating New Year’s Eve in the resort, has admitted the offence in court.

Forty-one-year-old Dean James, of Heol Bryn Gwyn, Penywaun, Aberdare, pleaded guilty to the charge, when he appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told the court that the incident took place at the Three Mariners Inn, and the victim, who was out with friends, sustained injuries to the back of his head and ribs after the assault by Mr. Jones.

“The complainant said that he’d been out with friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve and after visiting several pubs and watching the fireworks in the Square at midnight, went to the Three Mariners.

“He said that the pub was very busy and recalls dancing before being hit very hard on the back of his head by a lot of force and hitting the floor. He then remembered someone kicking him in the ribs and taking several blows.

“The complainant said that each strike caused a great deal of pain. In the end, a friend got the other man off him and another helped him up.

“He had a lot of blood coming from his head and went out of the pub to report the incident, and was told that the other man had been arrested,” continued Ms Morgan.

The complainant attended A and E the next day, and told police officers in a Victim Personal Statement that he still felt pain in his ribs two weeks after the assault.

He explained that he’d had a lot of time to think about the incident and that it had played on his mind and he now no longer felt safe visiting a crowded pub.

“He said that he had a young son and thought how badly that the incident might have gone, and how his son could have been left without a father,” said Ms Morgan.

“He felt that the other man had taken no time to think of the consequences of his actions.”

In a police interview, the defendant told officers that he had been out with his partner and admitted giving the complainant a ‘smack’, but denied that he had used a bottle or a glass to assault him. Mr. James told officers ‘He messed with me, the boy was being a pain’.

“The defendant claimed that the complainant had been a ‘nuisance’ and had propositioned his partner whilst dancing around her. Mr. James said he took him down in a scuffle and punched him to the face once or twice,” added Ms Morgan, stating that Mr. James had a previous charge of common assault to his name dating back to 2005.

Defence solicitor Mark Layton told the court that CCTV from the pub viewed after the incident by police officers, seemed to show that the complainant had made some kind of hand gesture towards Mr. James, and suggested that he was goading him.

“Mr. James had come down to Tenby for New Year’s Eve and had enjoyed a pleasant evening. The behaviour from the complainant towards his partner had annoyed him, and he hit him,” Mr. Layton explained.

Magistrates told Mr. James that they had no doubt that this was a ‘particularly nasty assault’ in a public place on a crowded night, and whether he had been provoked or not, that attack he launched was very unpleasant.

Mr. James was handed a 12-month community order with conditions to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to the victim, prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £85.