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A labourer arrived at his work’s posh Christmas party in a tracksuit, became drunk and then broke his boss’ jaw.
Jackson Harris was kicked out of the £60-a-head dinner in Ramsgate after becoming drunk, abhorrent, and alarming guests.
“It was a formal affair, with formal dress, but Mr Harris took matters rather more casually,” prosecutor Caroline Knight told a court.
The 21-year-old became rowdy during a senior manager’s speech, and so drunk he was kicked out after a row with staff.
Enraged Harris tried re-entering the venue, Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour Brasserie, when his boss James Spencer tried calming him down.
But Harris set upon Mr Spencer with a single punch to the jaw, breaking it in two places, requiring two permanent metal plates and wiring.
Harris, of Hugin Avenue in Broadstairs, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm at a previous magistrates’ hearing.
Canterbury Crown Court heard Mr Spencer was unable to work or eat solid food for a month and suffered nerve damage to the left side of his face.
"Do you think members of the public who are worried about drunks on the street at night, breaking people’s jaws, will think it is a waste of money?” Jackson Harris
Mr Spencer said he’d become anxious about leaving the house since the attack, which also shook up his wife and child.
Representing himself in court, Harris, who has one previous conviction of battery, showed limited remorse and appeared frustrated with those who ejected him.
The hod-carrier claimed he didn’t remember the assault and gave a no-comment police interview because he “felt sickened” by his behaviour.
When Judge Rupert Lowe asked Harris whether he deserved a prison sentence, he replied by saying: “I think it will be a waste of money sending me to jail, (the attack) was a one-off”.
Judge Rupert Lowe responded: “Do you? Do you think Mr Spencer will think it’s a waste of money not sending you to prison? Do you think members of the public who are worried about drunks on the street at night, breaking people’s jaws, will think it is a waste of money?”
Judge Lowe described Harris as "immature" and a “boy in a man’s body”.
“You don’t know how to behave when you are drunk,” he added.
Throughout the hearing Harris’s dad could be seen crossing his fingers as Judge Lowe passed sentence.
The judge gave Harris a final chance, stressing his young age as a mitigating feature, and suspended a 20-month prison sentence for two years.
He ordered Harris before the court in four months for a progress check, to pay the victim £3,000 compensation in one year and to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
“I’m going to personally keep my eye on you,” he added.
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