Man suffered double jaw fracture in Bewdley bar attack (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Man suffered double jaw fracture in Bewdley bar attack

9:31am Monday 20th August 2012 in Kidderminster

A PUB-goer suffered a double fracture of the jaw and lost a wisdom tooth after being attacked at midnight in a Bewdley bar.

Nathan Sanders was on a night out when drunken Joseph McMahon punched him once in the face.

Two friends of the victim had earlier tried to calm McMahon down after he began causing trouble in the HR Sports Bar, said Charles Hardy, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court .

McMahon, 23, of Adam Street, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Jailing him for 12 months, Judge John Cavell told him: "You were looking for trouble, wanting to fight an innocent bystander."

A probation report concluded that the defendant's anti-social and aggressive behaviour signalled a future risk of significant harm to the public.

He had nine previous convictions and had already served a jail term for affray and assault causing bodily harm.

The bar attack happened on May 13, 2011 but sentence had been delayed, partly because McMahon absconded while on bail and then refused to answer police questions leading to an identity parade having to be set up, said the judge.

McMahon had asked bar customers "who wants some?" before he ran up to Mr Sanders and demanded, before the attack: "What about you?"

Defence barrister Abigail Nixon said McMahon had an alcohol problem at the time but had quit drink because he did not want to present a poor role model for his first child.

He acted as a house-husband while his partner went out to work but he had been offered a £300 a week job with a flooring company, which he was due to start.