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An ungrateful bully knocked out a man after he spent all night paying for his drinks.
Phillip Smith went out drinking with his cousins, Gemma and Angela Codling, at the Royal Oak pub in Wallasey.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Gemma Codling start talking to Daniel Smith at the bar, who made £ 100 off a fruit machine.
In the mood for a celebration, he later told police that he bought six rounds of drinks for the two sisters and their cousin.
But Smith, 28, who has a history of violence, repaid his new friend’s generosity by punching him in the head.
Prosecutor Kenneth Grant said the victim described “having a laugh” with the trio at the Liscard Village pub on Tuesday, Feb. 12, last year.
He said the group left around 11.30pm and went to the Tower Hotel on Liscard Way, where Mr. Smith bought more drinks.
The prosecutor said: “He later told the police that he bought about six rounds of drinks in total.”
At around 12:30 a.m., they headed to a taxi rank in Liscard Village, when the three relatives said they were going home and invited Mr. Smith to join them.
The victim declined his offer but paid the driver £ 10 for the fee, before saying goodbye and crossing the road.
Grant said Gemma Codling ran over and asked him to get into the taxi, but he refused again and helped her into the car.
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He said: “The next thing he reported to the police was that the defendant punched him in the face and pushed him while trying to defend himself. He couldn’t do it because a woman the defendant was with was standing in his way.
“Then he saw what could have been a metal pole that hit him in the side of the face. At that point he passed out.”
The victim recalled arriving and running to a nearby parking lot.
Mr. Grant said: “There he was assaulted by other men, he said at the time, including the defendant, but the prosecution cannot say that with certainty.”
“Then he said he passed out again.”
When the victim awoke the second time, he went to his mother’s home and later received treatment for facial injuries, some of which Mr. Grant accepted were inflicted by “men not in court.”
He also alleged that money was taken from him during his ordeal.
Police identified Smith in CCTV footage from the taxi rank, but he gave an interview without comment and was put on trial, charged with theft.
On October 10 of this year, the victim went to the Saddle Inn, in Withens Lane, Liscard, where she returned to see her attacker.
Smith entered with his girlfriend and during a conversation, in “unpleasant tones”, he warned: “I’ll see you again.”
A waitress, who asked Smith to leave, overheard him tell the man, “You’re getting what you’re getting.”
The victim went to the police and made a retraction statement, but then received a witness subpoena and attended court.
Smith, of Lea Road, Egremont, Wallasey, admitted that the assault caused actual bodily harm and witness intimidation, which was accepted by the Crown.
The theft charge was recorded in the file.
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His previous convictions include assault with intent to rob and battery in 2007, two counts of battery in March 2008, injury and battery causing actual bodily harm in July 2008, skirmish in July 2010 and battery in August 2012.
Paul Treble, defending Smith, admitted that these were “disagreeable offenses”, which involved “rendering a man unconscious.”
He said that everyone involved had been drinking and that it was a “very nice” night until one of the women wanted Mr. Smith to join them and he refused.
Treble said his client then “overreacted to what was a simple argument about not much” and that he “deeply regretted” and was sorry for his actions.
He said the witness intimidation was a “chance encounter” and that his client, who needed help with his thinking skills and alcohol problems, “should have bit his tongue.”
Treble said no weapon was used in the attack and that it was not a metal pole, but the second of two blows by Smith that struck his victim.
Urging the judge to avoid jail time, Treble said Smith had a daughter, was a hard-working man and was being treated for depression in prison.
Judge Garrett Byrne issued a five-year restraining order to prevent Smith from contacting his victim.
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He said the assault and intimidation had a “serious adverse effect” on Smith, who even retracted his complaint.
In jailing Smith for 12 months, he said: “You have a bad history of violence, although you have not had problems since 2012.”
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