Drunken thug jailed after battering drinker at family pub with a POOL CUE

A drunken thug who sparked a Wild West-style brawl at a family pub after battering a drinker with a pool cue has been jailed.

Dad-of-three Sean Pinder, aged 34, saw red when he was told to “stop acting like a child” by Nathan Casey.

He whacked Mr Casey over the head with the heavy wooden cue before repeatedly punching him as stunned regulars looked on.

The savage attack soon spiralled into a mass brawl as other drinkers began trading punches with one smashing another over the back with a bar stool.

Footage of the fighting was shown to Plymouth Crown Court in Devon where Pinder was jailed for a year for assaulting Mr Casey.

The court heard forklift truck driver Pinder had been watching football in the city’s Post Office Inn on January 27 when he started disturbing other drinkers.

Prosecutor Julia Cox said Mr Casey told the defendant to “stop acting like a child” and sit down if he couldn’t handle his drink.

Pinder responded by walking to the bar and asking for a pool cue which the barman presumed was for a game.

CCTV footage then showed the yob unscrewing the heavier bottom end of the cue as he marched over to Mr Casey’s table.

He smashed him on the left side of his face, knocking him to the floor, and continued to rain punches on him as other drinkers stepped in to break up the fighting.

They also began trading blows and at one stage a chair was hoisted into the air and brought crashing down on one man’s back.

Mr Casey was left with a cut mouth and extensive damage to his teeth requiring £1,700 worth of dental treatment. Pinder was also knocked out in the melee.

Ali Rafati, defending, said he could not condone his client’s “thuggish” behaviour but said his three children aged 11, 10 and six, were dependent on his income.

Mr Rafati said: “He is peddling hard to stay afloat. He is taking responsibility for his children and their needs.

“There is evidence that there were some comments being thrown back and forth that made the defendant behave in this way.

“The defendant was unconscious for a period of time from people punching him on the floor.

“He says he is appalled and disgusted by what he did and apologises to the victim for the injury and ongoing treatment.”

Pinder, of Plymouth, admitted causing actual bodily harm.

Another man, Neil Lott, 33, was formally cleared of the same charge after it was ruled that the Crown Prosecution Service had insufficient evidence against him.

Mr Recorder Paul Dunkels QC told Pinder: “You have pleaded guilty to a serious offence of violence. You were drunk and abusive.

“You used half of the snooker cue to make it more of a weapon and delivered a heavy blow to his head and I can see from the CCTV you aimed for his face.

“This has caused extensive dental treatment and the victim has been left with anxiety.”