LAW-abiding citizens in search of a peaceful night out are the true victims of drunken violence, a judge said as he sentenced a lager lout for fighting on Ouse Bridge.

Mark Adam Nelson, 21, has a history of getting involved in violence after drinking too much, York Crown Court heard.

Alan Mitcheson, prosecuting, said Nelson started a fight by punching a man in another group and then attacked those who tried to help the other man. The victim was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Judge Patrick Robertshaw, on his last day sitting in York before his retirement, said: “The real victim of an offence of this kind isn’t necessarily the individual who is at the receiving end of the blow, but all reasonable and decent people who in case they would be put in fear of their own safety by an incident of this kind, often prefer to avoid going late at night or at the weekends in town and city centres. They are the victims of offences involving public disorder.”

Construction worker Nelson, of James Backhouse Place, Acomb, pleaded guilty to affray committed in February. He was given a 39-week prison sentence, suspended for two years on condition he does 12 months’ supervision, go on an alcohol treatment course and does 250 hours’ unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £400 prosecution costs.

His solicitor advocate, Liam Hassan, said when Nelson was not drinking, he led a respectable life and was a hard worker. But he did have a problem with alcohol in that he drank too much and then got involved in violence. • Another man involved in the same incident, Graham Uttley, 21, of Hillary Garth, off Poppleton Road, Acomb, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to affray and was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does 200 hours’ unpaid work and pay £400 compensation.

The court heard he kicked a man in the head and had no previous convictions.