Luke Graham, 37, of Brock Road, St Peter Port, admitted a charge of assault when he appeared in the Magistrate’s Court, having initially denied the offence. He was sentenced to community service.
The court was told how the assault happened in Red in the Lower Pollet in December. The defendant and his victim were known to each other and there was bad feeling between them. The defendant was concerned when acquaintances of the victim approached him two or three times over the course of the evening so he decided to leave.
As he got to the top of the stairs, the victim was standing behind him holding a glass. Graham punched him twice in quick succession before leaving. His victim suffered bruising, a cut lip, and a chipped tooth.
Graham later accepted that his actions had been disproportionate. His victim incurred costs of £1,030 for his attendance at hospital and dental treatment.
In a victim impact statement, the other man said the incident had caused him stress and trauma and he now went out much less than he used to.
Defending, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client had changed his plea to guilty on the assault as soon as he had taken legal advice, which had spared the need for a trial.
He had genuinely thought that he would be attacked that night after friends of his victim had approached him three times. He had not sought confrontation and put the situation down to a busy charged atmosphere and a degree of male posturing.
The court was told he had matters on record but nothing for violence.
Judge Marc Davies said he was prepared to accept that the assault had been out of character. The defendant had accepted that his actions had gone too far and caused long-standing anxiety to his victim.
He was ordered to undergo 80 hours of community service for the assault as a direct alternative to two months in prison. The same penalty, concurrent, was meted out for failing to surrender to court custody, which he also admitted. He must also pay his victim £1,030 in compensation.
Graham also entered guilty pleas to failing to submit full details of his 2025 election-related expenditure to the central returning officer within the mandatory 14 days.
Judge Davies said anyone who followed politics locally or in other places would be aware such processes were very important, and without them things became far less transparent. He fined him £1,000.