A FOOTBALL fan was left with a broken jaw after an afternoon spent in pubs watching an England international match, a court was told.

Jason Dodd was struck on the face outside The Railway pub, Spennymoor. He was slammed against a wall and, when he fell to the ground, he was kicked on the head.

Yesterday, Kevin Edgar, 36, of Kirkstall Walk, St Helen Auckland, County Durham, appeared before Teesside Crown Court charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm to Mr Dodd in March last year. He has denied the charge.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said Mr Dodd remembered leaning against a box outside the pub, then nothing else until he woke up in Bishop Auckland General Hospital. He had a fractured jaw which needed a plate inserting.

A man had been seen hitting Mr Dodd in the face, slamming him against a wall and then kicking him in the head, the court heard. When he was unconscious, other men kicked him in the chest.

The court was told that Mr Dodd and his friends, who were Newcastle Football Club supporters, were in the North Eastern pub when there was a disagreement with a group of Sunderland Football Club supporters. The Newcastle fans left, but the Sunderland fans and Mr Edgar stayed in the pub. A few hours later, when Mr Dodd left the Railway pub for some fresh air, he was assaulted, said Mr Dodds.

Mr Edgar told the court he had tussled with Mr Dodd and had punched him, but denied he was the man who had kicked him in the head. He said another man had kicked Mr Dodd.

The case continues