A FORMER soldier must pay £1,500 compensation for knocking out a man's tooth in an argument in a New Year taxi queue.

David Anthony Ingham, 29, punched Richard Burrows in the face in a dispute that began outside The Gallery, York, early on January 1, city magistrates heard.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said an independent witness saw Ingham's girlfriend shouting at Mr Burrows and his brother. Ingham pushed the brother and when Mr Burrows tried to intervene, punched him in the mouth and knocked him to the floor.

Solicitor Chris McGrogan, mitigating, said Ingham's group, which was visiting York, had been in the queue for nearly an hour when Mr Burrows' group walked up and part of it got into a taxi.

He said that when Ingham's girlfriend objected, Mr Burrows pushed her and Ingham punched him.

Mr Butterworth said the blow damaged some of the victim's teeth, including knocking out one of them.

Ex-soldier and now HGV driver Ingham, of Farm Street, Heywood, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

Magistrates said the exact circumstances of the dispute were not crucial to them in terms of sentencing.

They put Ingham on probation for six months and ordered him to pay £1,500 compensation to Mr Burrows, plus £120 costs, plus £325 for breaching a conditional discharge imposed for a public order offence in Rochdale last autumn.

Mr McGrogan said Ingham may have over-reacted because his eight years in the Army had taught him to react too fast. Ingham was visiting York over the New Year.

Updated: 12:40 Saturday, April 05, 2003