A BOXER was jailed yesterday after he knocked out a stranger in a bar with a single punch, breaking his jaw in two places.

Police said that Julian Bunney, 24, bragged to them about his punch after his victim was taken to hospital.

Bunney, who had been boxing for seven years, said that he had won 18 of his 40 fights and that he was a good club fighter.

Philip Armstrong, 24, the man attacked in Bar 44, in Guisborough, east Cleveland, has been left with three metal plates in his jaw, Richard Bennett, prosecuting, told Tees-side Crown Court

Mr Bennett said of Bunney, who was found hiding in bushes: "He appeared to be proud that he laid him out with a single punch, and he intimated to the officers that he never backed down from a fight."

Bunney could not believe the injuries he inflicted had had such extremely serious and dramatic consequences, said Ian Lamb, defending. "It may well be that because the defendant participated in boxing that the injuries were so severe," said Mr Lamb.

Judge Peter Bowers told Bunney: "The single blow you delivered to the jaw of the victim is one, I suppose, in the boxing ring you would be proud of, but it is not appropriate for a bar in Guisborough."

Bunney of Dorset Road, Guisborough, was jailed for nine months after he admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on July 5.