A drunken thug who broke a man’s eye socket when he punched his victim as he sat on the ground has been jailed.

Jordan Hopps delivered the brutal blow just seconds after knocking another man unconscious following a row outside a Darlington town centre pub.

CCTV footage showed the victim wrestling with his cousin after they left The Gate bar in the early hours of the morning.

Hopps was with a group of men and women who were watching them brawling on the ground before the 24-year-old marched towards them and delivered two knockout blows.

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Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, said the victim accepted that he was heavily intoxicated at the time of the attack and remembers nothing about it until he was awoken by a police officer.

“As the victim gets to his feet and puts out his hands, the defendant pushes him before using his right hand to punch the victim and knocks him to the ground,” she said.

The first man who was knocked unconscious refused to cooperate with the police and the defendant faced no charges in relation to that punch, she added.

Miss Lamballe said the victim didn’t initially attend hospital about his injuries but five days later it was confirmed that he had a fractured cheek bone.

The Northern Echo: The Gate in Darlington town centreThe Gate in Darlington town centre

In a victim impact statement, the man said the attack has left him feeling anxious and scared whenever he is approached by people in the street after suffering a similar injury 20 years earlier.

He added: “I feel your actions towards me could have had catastrophic consequences for someone with my medical condition.”

The court heard how Hopps had three convictions for five offences including two for public order offences for violence outside pubs.

Hopps, of Lapwing Drive, Darlington, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm following the incident at around 2am on April 14.

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Cainan Lonsdale, mitigating, his client had said he reacted in self-defence but accepted that he overstepped the mark when he delivered the two punches.

Judge Howard Crowson said: “You are accruing quite a bad record for street violence. This was in the street; you were the most violent person there.

“The complainant you struck was sitting on the floor until you punched him down to the ground.”

Hopps was jailed for eight months.