A BRIERLEY Hill Thai boxer who punched a man so hard he broke his jaw and shattered an eye socket has been jailed for 16 months.

Christopher Brown struck out in Bar South in Kingswinford because he felt his girlfriend Jade Graham was being hassled and abused by Daniel Cash, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Judge Nicholas Webb told 25-year-old Brown, of The Embankment, Merry Hill: "You are a Thai boxer and you clearly must have known what you were doing and the effects of what you were doing.”

He said the blow was delivered in "difficult circumstances" by a man with previous convictions for violence - but he ruled he agreed there had been an element of provocation.

The Judge told Brown he had seen the incident captured on CCTV and it showed Miss Graham was standing up to Mr Cash as they argued inside the bar.

It seems there may have been a dispute because the girlfriend of Mr Cash had been seeing someone else and he was disillusioned by the fact Brown and Miss Graham had tried to cover up the matter.

Mr Cash was harassing Miss Graham but he was not threatening, said the Judge, and the punch thrown by Brown was with "great force" and it had caused serious injuries.

Christopher O'Gorman, prosecuting, said Mr Cash had to undergo surgery to repair the damage to his jaw and eye socket, and he was now nervous and concerned about going out at night.

He told the court Brown and his girlfriend went to Bar South because they understood Mr Cash was elsewhere - but he turned up a short time later and the argument then broke out.

Brown admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cash in a situation that had "been brewing for some time" - Amanda O'Mara, defending, said.

She said the parties had been avoiding each other for some months and maintained Brown had been concerned because it was claimed Mr Cash had pushed over Miss Graham in an earlier incident.

Miss O’Mara said the punch was thrown in a "moment of madness".

And she added: "There was no way he could anticipate the damage he caused."