A KIDDERMINSTER man who punched another pub customer off his bar stool and on to the floor where he lost consciousness has avoided jail.

Kevin Blount, of Wordsworth Crescent, has now been ordered to pay £750 compensation to his victim, Wayne Young, who has since suffered dizzy spells.

Blount, aged 53, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Young and was given a 32-week jail sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work in the community.

Michelle Heeley, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court that Mr Young had been having an argument with his partner at 11pm on December 21 in the Peacock pub, Kidderminster, when Blount heard his name mentioned.

Blount then struck Mr Young, who fell off his bar stool and then lay unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

Mr Young suffered a haematoma to his head and needed stitches to his forehead.

Lee Egan, defending, said it was not the blow from Blount that caused the injury but the fall. He added: “Everybody was intoxicated.”

Mr Egan also said that Blount held down a job in which he was responsible for 300 maisonettes and flats and he had expressed remorse.

Blount had tried to help Mr Young when he realised he was unconscious.

Judge Abbas Mithani QC said Mr Young had been socialising with his family in the pub when there was an argument.

“What is undisputed is the fact that, without warning, you punched the victim to the side of the head, he fell off the stool and hit his head,” said the judge.

He added that the victim had to have a change in his job role because he could no longer work at heights, a new prescription for his glasses, was being referred for counselling and was taking tablets for depression.

The judge also said that, if he had sent Blount straight to jail it would have been only for a few weeks and the unpaid work in the community was a “more effective restriction” of his liberty.