A THUG knocked a woman to the ground with a single punch before kicking her in the head as she lay on the ground - but claimed he acted ‘in self-defence’.

Hassan Jagne’s plea fell on deaf ears however after a jury of six men and six women convicted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm last week.

At his sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Friday recorder Richard Prior said the 26-year old of Jackson Road, Oxford had used ‘considerable force’ in the attack.

The court heard how Jagne had been on a night out in central Oxford on November 11 last year when he got into an argument with a group of people near to the Kebab King, George Street, sometime after 3am.

The argument escalated and Jagne called the victim Miss Kirsty Quince an ‘estate hoe’. Both were drunk and Miss Quince slapped Jagne.

Sometime later Miss Quince returned to near Gloucester Green where Jagne was, and it was then that he lashed out and punched her in the face.

He had denied the charge and insisted that although CCTV footage had captured the attack he had acted ‘in self-defence’ and had wanted to stop Miss Quince from ‘going ballistic’ at him.

During the trial prosecutor Robert Lindsey called his defence ‘preposterous’.

He told jurors: “The defendant punched her with such force she falls straight to the ground. Where was the threat? She falls straight to the ground, that was excessive force he has used.

“After that, what does he do, does he stop? No, he steps back and then he kicks her with full force. There is no self-defence here. This is not a retaliation.”

In mitigation, Martin Khoshdel said his client was both ashamed and remorseful and also struggles with alcoholism which had fuelled his behaviour. He was given a 40-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and a 6-month curfew and 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay Miss Quince £200.