A WAREHOUSE worker was kicked in the head after sparking a mass brawl by punching a stranger in an unprovoked attack.

The victim of the original assault suffered bruising to the brain after being knocked out outside a town centre nightclub and hitting his head on the pavement.

But two men were spared jail over the fracas by a judge on Thursday, June 6.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Connor Quinn and victim Ian Gregory were stood outside PJ's bar on Bridge Street at shortly after 4.30am having a cigarette when the former punched the latter to the left side of his face.

Mr Gregory fell to the floor and hit his head on the pavement, leaving him unconscious.

He suffered two separate contusions to the brain during the incident.

The incident sparked a brawl, with an unidentified man punching Quinn and throwing him to the ground.

As the 20-year-old was lying on the floor with his arms held out in defence, Dylan Kevlin – a friend of Mr Gregory's – kicked him in the head.

Quinn, who was also taken to hospital following the melee, could not remember what had happened when interviewed by police as he was 'very drunk'.

He admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm during an earlier hearing at Warrington Magistrates Court.

Judge Neil Flewitt handed Quinn, from Runcorn, 150 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.

The defendant, who had no previous convictions, was also ordered to pay £750 in compensation to Mr Gregory.

Sentencing, judge Flewitt said: "After you had been drinking heavily, for no apparent reason you struck a single blow to your victim – knocking him to the floor and rendering him unconscious.

"On a number of occasions, blows struck like that have caused very serious injuries and even death.

"Even a single blow can have horrendous complications and serious outcomes.

"It may be a stroke of good fortune that the injuries here were not serious, and your victim has made a full recovery.

"You are a young man of good character, but one foolish act of violence has come very close to taking that all away from you – you almost lost everything.

"Given the genuine remorse you have shown, I'm not going to send you to prison."

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Forty-year-old Kevlin, from Southport, admitted causing actual bodily harm and was given 120 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.

Judge Flewitt added: "No doubt because you were drunk and enraged on behalf of your friend, you kicked Connor Quinn once to the head.

"You should understand the risks involved in kicking someone to the head and the damage that could have been caused.

"Luckily, his injuries were relatively minor.

"You are otherwise a decent, hard-working man and I regard this as a blip on your character."

A spokesman for PJ's told the Warrington Guaridan: "This was an isolated incident which had nothing to do with the bar, as we had closed one hour prior.

"The town centre CCTV was pointing in the wrong direction and the incident was not captured.

"Upon management leaving the premises, police asked would we have footage of this and we supplied this - which helped bring justice."