Elliot Clark jailed for fight outside Westgate Oxford

Elliot Clark, 26, of David Walter Close, Oxford, pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court yesterday to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Outlining the case prosecutor Andrew Tucker said that the assault victim Cain Downton was at the Westgate Social at about 7pm on the night of March 7 this year.

Not long after Clark, together with a group of others, arrived before they all moved on to an area known as 'the rocks and stones' between Paradise Square and Norfolk Street.

It was here that a fight broke out which resulted in Clark punching his victim in the face, causing head injuries.

Mr Tucker said that the victim then left the scene before calling for an ambulance for treatment.

In mitigation defence barrister Jonathan Coode said of the build-up to the fight: "It's an incident to do with smoking a spliff, somebody was disrespected or something."

He added that his client had already served time in prison after his arrest for the incident in March and had 'co-operated' when police arrived.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle QC said: "This sort of violence in public is completely unacceptable and you know that.

"This case clearly passes the custody threshold."

Clark was jailed for nine months and must pay a victim surcharge.