Worker broke colleague's cheek after he was urinated on

Ashley Stuart Downes, 26, attacked the other male in The Rufford on Chesterfield Road South.

Mansfield Magistrates’ Court heard this week how the pair, who were not friends and only know of each other through their job, had been in the pub in December for a work’s Christmas night out.

Downes, of Peel Crescent, Mansfield, went to the toilet during the evening and was followed shortly by the victim, who stood next him at the urinal.

The court was then told how the victim then began urinating against the wall which splashed back onto Downes, who told him to stop, but the other male did it twice more before urinating directly onto him.

At that point, Downes turned and punched the man three times, breaking his cheek bone.

He admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

In mitigation, Michael Little, defending, said his client had never been in trouble before and went straight home after the incident.

“He knows his behaviour was unacceptable and out of character, he got angry and did what he shouldn’t have done, he lost his temper.”

District Judge Tim Spruce said jail could have been an option for Downes.

He told him : “Because of the injury you caused, the starting point would ordinarily be 26 weeks imprisonment, but I’ve balanced that with your clear remorse and the fact there was significant provocation, although it’s not an excuse.”

He was given a 28-day electronic tag curfew order, made to pay £200 to the victim and told to pay £145 in costs.