A drunken binman has narrowly avoided jail after being thrown out of a sports bar and punching one of the owners in a “nasty” attack.

Harry Langley attacked the co-owner of the Star Meadow Sports Complex bar in Gillingham after he was asked to leave the venue following a row with his partner.

However, once in the car park, the dad-of-two attacked Wayne Peirce by punching him twice in the head which rendered him unconscious and left him with a large wound to the back of his head

A court heard the incident had such an impact on him that he later gave up running the bar.

Langley, who had a pint glass in his hand at the time of the attack, was later charged with grievous bodily harm after the incident which happened on November 18, last year.

He admitted the offence in August when a pre-sentencing report was ordered to be carried out on him.

The 30-year-old refuse worker returned to Medway Magistrates Court on October 24 to be sentenced where the bench were shown footage of the attack which had been caught on cameras outside the venue in Darland Avenue.

In the clip the glass that was in his hand could clearly be seen flying through the air during the attack.

However, his solicitor told magistrates Langley only reacted the way he did after Mr Peirce poked him in the chest.

Elizabeth Evans, prosecuting, said: “The defendant had been arguing with his partner and he was asked to leave by another member of staff and Mr Peirce joined him outside and tried to calm him down.

“He punched him to the head and he had a glass in his hand and the glass fell to the floor and it was all caught on CCTV.

“He punched him two times in quick succession and knocked him unconscious and Mr Peirce was put in the recovery position.”

The court also heard the police were called and Langley admitted he’d attacked Mr Peirce by punching him but said he did so because he was “in his face”.

Mrs Evans added: “He has no previous convictions and Mr Peirce has recovered fully but he gave up the sports bar after the incident because of the impact on him, it was two punches in quick succession.

“It was a grave injury and he has a scarring to the back of his head. It took seven sutures to close the wound, it was between eight and 10 cm long (the wound) and he had to have a CT scan and he also suffered a black eye.

“It’s impossible to tell if the glass was used as a weapon.”

However, Andrew Craske, defending, told magistrates the basis of Langley’s plea had been that he had not used the glass as a weapon and only punched Mr Peirce.

He added: “He was poked in the chest (by Mr Peirce) and he punched him twice, he did not hit him with the glass.

“The cut was caused by the fall to the floor, he may have a scar, but that will be covered by his hair.”

Mr Craske then asked the bench to look at the photos of Mr Peirce’s injury before they made their decision on what punishment to give Langley.

He added: “It was a nasty, nasty incident which may pass the custody threshold and alcohol clearly played a part.

“But alcohol is not a prevalent feature in his life, he plays for a darts team and might have one or two pints then.

“He’s been employed in the Medway Towns for the past 10 years and has a partner and two children and they both work full time and his income pays the bills and rent.

“He will be able to keep his employment, he is at a low risk of reoffending and he’s extremely unlikely to find himself in this position again and he had genuine remorse.

“He earns £1,700 a month and works Monday to Friday as a refuse collector.”

Magistrates told Langley they were jailing him for six months for the offence, but said they were prepared to suspend that term for 18 months.

However, they also told him he must wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 90 days which means he will not be able to enjoy a drink over the Christmas and New Year period.

They also ordered him to attend 20 rehabilitation sessions and up to 32 sessions on a stepping stones course.

Langley was also ordered to pay Mr Peirce £500 compensation and must pay a victim surcharge of £154, as well as £85 court costs.

He agreed to pay what he owed the court at a rate of £100 a month.