Reveller viciously attacked in toilets

Christopher Ward grabbed the victim, bit him on the back and grappled with him inside The Cube in Poulton.

In the melee, his victim fell to the floor and felt a sharp pain in his leg, which was later diagnosed as a fractured ankle

Ward, 30, of Whitecrest Avenue, Cleveleys, was given a suspended prison sentence when he appeared at Preston Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to an offence of unlawful wounding.

Huw Edwards, prosecuting, said that while in the toilets in April 2013, the victim made a comment about the toilets seemingly smelling of bacon.

Ward took exception to that comment, thinking the man was calling him a police officer.

Mr Edwards told the court: “Because of that misunderstanding, the defendant grabbed him by the groin and then by his throat.

“It led to a period of grappling between both men.

“My client accepts he struck him a number of occasions, he would say in self-defence.

The defendant got him in a headlock at one point and bit him to his back.

“He continued punching the defendant, and the grappling continued.

“Ward was throwing punches at him, none of them particularly landing.

“Towards the end of the incident, the man went to the floor and felt a sharp pain in his leg. It was a fracture to his ankle.”

The injury left him off work for several weeks.

Chris Hudson, defending, suggested it had been a “shameful business” on both sides, with two grown men fighting.

After the trial, Lancashire Police confirmed Mr Ward was not a serving police officer with the force.