A PLUMBER has been given a suspended prison sentence for his part in drink-fuelled violence that left a man with a broken eye socket.

Zak Robinson punched the victim as he lay on the ground, York Crown Court heard.

Another man hit the victim in the face with a brick and kicked him, said the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst.

The victim suffered serious face injuries and needed two operations following the attack near the Turf Tavern pub in Thanet Road, Dringhouses, York.

Robinson, 22, of Chaloners Road, Dringhouses, later accepted he was responsible for some of the injuries and pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to the victim.

The identity of the other attacker is unknown.

Giving Robinson a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordering him to do 200 hours’ unpaid work, Judge Ashurst said: “Your case is not an unusual one.

“The courts are often faced with someone like you who comes over as a decent member of the community, but who has on one occasion acted with uncharacteristic violence.”

Simon Ostler, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the victim had been drinking at a family barbecue before going to the pub and was affected by alcohol. Robinson was also at the pub with friends. Taryn Turner, for Robinson, said the victim was unhappy because her client had knocked down some fairy lights.

After Robinson left the pub, he saw the victim running towards him and admits he attacked him, fearing that he would be attacked, the barrister said. He repeatedly punched the victim.

The judge accepted that the first blow had been in self-defence. Robinson accepted he then went too far.