A MAN who was celebrating his recovery from cancer with a night out in Bolton town centre ended up in the dock after chasing and kicking a man he rowed with in a nightclub.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Thomas Barrass, his pal Paul Kabwe and other friends went out drinking on July 29 last year.

Joshua Bowker, prosecuting, told how, at 4.20am CCTV camera operators spotted a brawl in Nelson Square.

The court was shown footage of a man being chased down the road by Barrass and Kabwe, both aged 23.

He fell to the ground and lay there, apparently unconscious, for several minutes while he was kicked and stamped on, before getting up and walking away.

“The victim has never been identified. We don’t know what injuries he suffered,” said Mr Bowker.

Judge Richard Gioserano commented: “It is hard to imagine he could have escaped wholly unscathed.”

Barrass, of Portugal Street, Bolton, and Kadwe, of Carrington Drive, Bolton, who have previous convictions, including for robbery when they were teenagers, both pleaded guilty to affray.

Andrew Costello, defending Barrass said: “He accepts fully and is remorseful for his behaviour.”

He told how Barrass had gone to the aid of a friend, who had been “groped” by a man inside the nightclub and he ended up being cut with a glass.

Outside the premises Barrass and his friends became involved in an argument, then a fight, with the man and his group.

“He is shocked by what he did,” said Mr Costello. “He takes no pride in how he behaved.”

He added that in 2016 Barrass, a father-of-one, was diagnosed with cancer, thought to be terminal at the time, and went through chemotherapy.

Katherine Pierpoint, defending, Kadwe, said he and Barrass have been friends since they were aged 11.

She said: “He was aware that Mr Barrass had been injured and Mr Barrass had been ill for a long period of time. In fact, this was a night out celebrating the fact that he was now recovering.

“His emotions took over and he acted completely inappropriately.”

The court heard that both men had not been in trouble for several years before the affray.

Judge Richard Gioserano sentenced each of them to eight months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered them to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work with participation in 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He told them: “There may actually be some substance in the submission that you are shocked at your conduct on this particular night and that has strengthened your resolve to never be in this sort of position again.”

He added: “The public need to understand that, even if the man on the floor gets up and walks away, whatever the reason for the start of the trouble, people who lose their heads like this would normally go to prison.

“The public is sick and tired of it. Our city centres are not the Wild West.

“You don’t get to behave like this because of something you think somebody else may have done. We have the police for that.

“If everybody starts dealing with it in this particular way, even if they are losing their head in the heat of the moment, we will descend into chaos.”