A Pembroke Dock man charged with GBH and assault has been given a suspended jail sentence after admitting the offences in court.

Twenty-nine-year-old Thomas Daniel Carl Jones, of Wavell Crescent, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court, on Tuesday, to plead guilty to charges of maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Sidney Wallace; and assaulting Robert Cunliffe, in Pembroke Dock.

Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that the incidents occurred on November 5, of last year, only a fortnight after the defendant had been involved in a fight with the complainant Mr. Wallace on the road outside the First and Last Pub in the town.

“There was friction between the two men as Mr. Jones had been seeing Mr. Wallace’s daughter who worked at the pub.

“At 12.15 am, Mr. Wallace returned to the premises after playing darts. There had been bickering between him and his daughter, and something was said that enraged Mr. Jones, who was present, and he lost his rag and ran towards Mr. Wallace.

“He barged past Mr. Cunliffe, knocking him out of the way, and got Mr. Wallace in a headlock, wrestling him to the ground,” he explained.

After the incident, Mr. Pritchard-Jones told the court how Mr. Wallace required stitches to two gashes he sustained on his head, as well as breaking a bone in his elbow.

“It appears unfortunate that when Mr. Jones took Mr. Wallace to the floor, he suffered these injuries, whilst Mr. Cunliffe also made a victim statement to say that he sustained injuries to his back as a result of the defendant barging him out the way,” he continued.

In his statement, Mr. Wallace said that the incident left him with ‘serious injuries’ and that he may never be able to straighten his arm properly again.

He stated that he was now unable to carry out simple tasks such as dressing himself and cooking for his family, and that it upset him that he could no longer carry his grandson on his shoulders.

“Mr. Wallace also said that he was devastated that he could not play darts anymore,” continued Mr. Pritchard-Jones.

“Mr. Cunliffe said that although he didn’t think Mr. Jones’s assault on him was intentional, it had left him with extreme agony in his back, so much so that he was unable to walk his friend’s dog anymore, and struggled to stand up straight.

“It seems that this incident has had a significant impact on both of the victims,” added Mr. Pritchard-Jones.

Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that alcohol had been consumed and that his client had been provoked by Mr. Wallace’s comments.

“Things had been building up and on this particular night and there had been provocation towards Mr. Jones from Mr. Wallace.

“My client had been sleeping at the time, so this wasn’t premeditated, and he is very remorseful.

“This wasn’t a case where repeated punching or kicking occurred, he simply grabbed somebody to the floor and injuries were sustained.

“There’s the old saying to let sleeping dogs lie, and Mr. Jones would have stayed asleep if it had not been for the shouting, bawling and rudeness from Mr. Wallace,” added Mr. Kelleher.

Following a pre-sentence report from probation, magistrates sentenced Mr. Jones to three months in prison, with 120 hours of unpaid work for the GBH; and a four week jail term for the assault, with 60 hours unpaid work, with both sentences suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to pay £500 and £200 in compensation to the victims, along with prosecution costs of £85 and a £115 victim surcharge.