A DRIFFIELD man "got the wrong end of the stick" when he attacked a man he suspected of assaulting his friend's girlfriend.
Sam Cousins, 22, of Riverhead Gardens, pleaded guilty to a single charge of common assault when he appeared in court in Bridlington last Wednesday.
The court heard the incident happened on the evening of November 29 last year when the victim, Just
in Zadoroznyj, had been on a night out in Driffield.
Prosecutor Heather Levett said Mr Zadoroznyj had been just about to leave the Norseman pub on Middle Street North when he was approached by two men – Cousins, who he did not know, and a man known only to him as Angus.
Mr Zadoroznyj denied accusations that he had caused Angus' girlfriend stress, which was keeping her off work.
Though he refused to go out into the street with the pair, he was dragged outside by his shirt and felt a blow to the top of his forehead, which made him fall to the ground.
Mr Zadoroznyj also said he was kicked while he was on the ground, although he did not know by who, Miss Levett said.
The confrontation later restarted inside Hooters nightclub, where Mr Zadoroznyj was pushed against a wall after he had gone in to find his friends, the court heard.
He suffered cuts above an eye and to the bridge of his nose.
His glasses and watch were also damaged and his shirt torn in the incident, the bench was told.
When later interviewed, Cousins said he had seen Angus' girlfriend in an "hysterical state" and had concluded that Mr Zadoroznyj had assaulted her.
He told officers: "I just stuck my nose in. It was nothing to do with me and it was totally out of character."
Ed Cunnah, mitigating, said: "The defendant accepts he got the wrong end of the stick."
He told the bench his client accepted pushing Mr Zadoroznyj and punching him once but denied kicking him, adding that Cousins had "stormed off" when he fell to the floor.
The court was also told Cousins had ended up struggling with Mr Zadoroznyj inside the nightclub when he stepped in to separate him from his friend and that Mr Zadoroznyj had been abusive towards them at the pub.
But, in apologising to the court on his client's behalf, Mr Cunnah said Cousins accepted the fact he would not have got involved at all if he had not had a drink.
Sentencing Cousins to a 12-month conditional discharge, presiding magistrate Ian Male told him: "Perhaps in future you'll realise the consequences of the alcohol that you're drinking."
Cousins was also ordered to pay £335 compensation to Mr Zadoroznyj and £85 costs.
