A man with a violent temper has been jailed for an unprovoked attack on another man in a bar.

Joseph Ashley Doyle, 26, of Longfield, Chirk, delivered a heavy boxer-style punch followed by other blows which broke his victim’s jaw in two places.

Doyle admitted a grievous bodily harm assault charge and was jailed for 14 months at Mold Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Rhys Rowlands – who watched a CCTV recording of the attack – said it was entirely unwarranted.

He said Doyle had delivered a heavy punch followed by a flurry of others.

Victim Anthony Carter ended up on the floor having lost consciousness momentarily and needed plates inserting during surgery to fix his jaw which was broken in two places.

“In drink you simply lost your temper,” the judge told Doyle.

The defendant, said the judge, had far too much to drink and had claimed in his pre-sentence report that he had little recollection of what happened.

“What is clear is that in drink you became aggressive,” said Judge Rowlands.

“The message has got to get out that drunken violence on licensed premises in the early hours which results in serious injury has to lead to immediate custodial sentences.”

He warned that if he had been convicted after trial then he would have received a 21-month prison sentence.

Judge Rowlands said he appreciated that Doyle had to deal with tragedy in his family and that his mother was ill.

But, from where he sat, he said it was difficult to understand why the defendant would seek to  cope by going out, drinking to excess and becoming violent.

The incident occurred within a few days of the defendant being fined for an earlier assault on a police officer.

Barrister Matthew Curtis, prosecuting, said the incident in March was captured on CCTV at the Hidden bar in Rhyl.

Doyle picked up a coat, the victim tapped him on the shoulder and said he thought he had taken the wrong coat, and Doyle became aggressive and punched him with force.

He then threw several more punches.

The victim was off work for two months, had been medicated for depression and had suffered nerve damage which led to a loss of feeling to his chin and lips.

Defence barrister Maria Massellis said Doyle was devastated by his behaviour and had shown genuine remorse.

“He knows that, in the cold light of day, behaviour like that will not be tolerated by the court and cannot be excused,” she said.

Doyle had a poor and difficult upbringing, he had spent periods in an adult mental health unit, but had made changes to his life and was working as a scaffolder.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting GBH on Anthony Carter during an incident in March.