A SINGLE punch from a drink-fuelled man left his victim with a bleed on the brain.

During a night out in Bolton town centre Daniel Mann got into a dispute with Lewis Clemmett, who was sitting in an adjoining booth at the Kahiki bar in Bradshawgate.

And when his victim went to a nearby takeaway Mann encountered him outside in the street and punched him in the face.

Mr Clemmett fell backwards into the road and lay there motionless as 28-year-old Mann walked off.

Bolton Crown Court heard how the behaviour was out of character for Mann, who works as a tax consultant and has never been in trouble before.

And after hearing about his remorse Judge Tom Gilbart sentenced him to 34 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

“These proceedings have had a salutary effect and you present a low risk of reoffending,” he told Mann.

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, told how Mr Clemmett was out in Bolton town centre with friends on July 15, 2020.

“That evening the defendant was also out with friends in Bolton and he too, in the early hours of the morning, found his way to the Kahiki bar,” said Mr Bassano, who added that Mann later admitted having drunk seven pints of beer as well as vodka.

The groups were sitting in adjoining booths and, at around 3am there was an incident involving Mann and Mr Clemmett.

Accounts of it differed with one statement saying it was due to a disagreement over a drink and another that Mann had misheard something and so acted aggressively towards Mr Clemmett.

Soon afterwards Mr Clemmett left the bar to get food from a takeaway and a few minutes later headed back.

"At that time the defendant walked out of the bar and CCTV footage shows the complainant walking towards the defendant with his hands in his pockets," said Mr Bassano.

"There is a brief exchange between the two of them and then, in what the Crown says is an unnecessary act of violence, the defendant punched him once to the face, causing him to fall backwards."

Police identified Mann, of Brookland Grove, Bolton. He was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm on the day of his trial.

The court heard how Mr Clemmett suffered a cut eyebrow and other facial injuries as well as three small bleeds to the brain.

He was discharged from hospital after three days but, in a statement, said that he had been left with a permanent scar and suffered headaches and problems with his speech and memory.

"I have seen footage of the incident. Although it was short and spontaneous it remains shocking to watch. It was brutal and quite deliberate," Judge Gilbart told Mann.

Mann initially claimed that he had been defending himself and mentioned he had previously been an assault victim.

"It seemed to the defendant that, having called out to him, the victim was walking straight towards him. He accepts he didn't wait reasonably to ascertain what was going on" said Mr Hart.

He added that Mann is "deeply and profoundly remorseful".

Mr Hart appealed to Judge Gilbart not to jail Mann immediately.

"He would lose his employment and go from being a net provider to a burden on the state," he said.

As part of his suspended sentence Mann was ordered to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work and pay his victim £1,000 in compensation.

He will also be electronically tagged and made subject to an 8pm to 6am curfew for three months.