A mass brawl broke out in the middle of a Heswall nightclub after a man allegedly groped a woman on the dancefloor.
Sean Langton, 27, approached the alleged groper in the men's toilets of Suede, on Telegraph Road, at around 1am on June 11, 2022 and told him to leave the woman alone. He was then set upon by two other men, who "knocked him to the floor and kicked and stamped on him" before running out of the room.
The violence spilled out into the club, leading to several people fighting on the dancefloor. The chaos was broken up by Suede bouncers, who ejected Langton and several other people from the club.
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Outside, Langton saw the alleged groper smoking a cigarette, and punched him in the face, fracturing his jaw in two places. He pleaded guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm, and appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, July 11.
Paul Blasbury, prosecuting, said: "The incident was captured on CCTV. What it shows is the victim and the defendant with a group of people surrounding him. He (Langton) goes round the back of several people between him and the victim, and delivers what can only be described as a haymaker punch. It was over in a matter of seconds.
"The defendant was interviewed on July 5 2022. He said he was in Suede and that one of the girls had had her backside grabbed. He followed the man into the toilet and told him to stop doing what he was doing towards the girl in question. During that conversation, the victim apologised, and at that point a toilet door flew open and two of the victim's friends knocked (Langton) to the floor and kicked and stamped on him before running out.
"That escalated onto the dancefloor. There was then a multitude of people fighting and as a result he and his friends were removed by staff.
"Unfortunately for the victim in this case, he decided to go out for a cigarette, where the defendant was, and received a single punch for his trouble."
Jim Smith, defending, said Langton, who has no previous convictions, had shown remorse for his actions. He said: "It was an act of stupidity and misadventure; (he was) trying to be altruistic, trying to help a friend. Bearing in mind his good character, he was trying to help, but clearly he wasn't thinking straight. He should have talked to somebody responsible rather than taking the matter into his own hands."
Addressing the defendant, Recorder MP Taylor, sentencing, said: "When you punch somebody hard to the face, it's a lottery what happens to them. You have been quite lucky that the long term consequences to this man are not particularly severe. If this case had been more severe, if he hadn't been able to eat or speak, you'd be going straight to prison.
"But because it's a one blow case, and because it didn't have these consequences, there's no need to send you to prison today. I bear in mind your good character."
He sentenced Langton, of Fisher's Lane in Pensby, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay £2,500 to the injured man.
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