Pub yob who hurled chair avoids prison

James Harley slapped a man in the face before throwing a chair at him and his friend on Christmas Eve, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Harley had approached the victim asking for the identity and location of another man in The Swan pub in Kingswinford, according to prosecutor Mr Oliver Woolhouse.

But he then struck out at the man before throwing the chair and a disturbance then followed in which another man received a cut to his head and had to go to hospital for some treatment.

Harley, of Hazel Road, Kingswinford, did not inflict the injury to the other man, and told police after his arrest that the man he slapped became 'aggressive,' the court was told.

He admitted affray and was given a nine-month jail term suspended for 18 months by Recorder Timothy Raggatt QC.

Recorder Raggatt QC further ordered Harley to pay £1,000 towards the costs of the prosecution and also to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

"Your life appears to have turned something of a corner," he said.

"That seems to me to play a significant part in what I do."

He warned Harley – who further admitted the offence breached an eight-month suspended prison sentence imposed for assault and theft – that he would almost certainly be jailed if he came before the court again.

Recorder Timothy Raggatt QC said in court: "Disorder of this kind in a public house is a serious matter and normally crosses the custody threshold.

"You were part of a group disorder and you have a history of such irresponsible behaviour when in drink."

Mr Mukhtar Ubhi, defending Harley, said that his client was now in settled employment and that his partner was also expecting their first child.

"He accepts that what he did that night was stupid and irresponsible," Mr Ubhi told the court.

"He is now determined to turn his life around," he added.