A MAN was jailed for three years yesterday for an attack that left his victim unable to eat solid food for nearly two months.

Yoshinori Hardy was left with his jaw broken in two places after the incident outside Hartlepool's 42nd Street nightclub on April 15.

Lee Pollard, 30, admitted assaulting Mr Hardy, but denied that he had intended to cause him serious injury.

But a jury at Teesside Crown Court last month found him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and he was sentenced yesterday.

Pollard, of Kingsley Avenue, Hartlepool, had pushed into the nightclub queue in front of Mr Hardy, who had been waiting there for an hour, the court heard. An argument began and the two men started fighting.

Mr Hardy said he was pulled out of the queue and into the street by Pollard, who punched him repeatedly in the face.

Mr Hardy said he tried to defend himself by throwing punches back, but "not very well" and the last thing he remembered was being held in a headlock.

Nigel Wray, prosecuting, said witnesses saw Mr Hardy being punched until he fell to the floor, where Pollard then kicked him at least twice in the head, leaving him unconscious.

Johnny Walker, for Pollard, said the assault was a "moment of drunken lunacy", which his client deeply regretted and was remorseful for.

He said Pollard was a hard-working family man and the attack was out of character.

Mr Walker added: "This was a spontaneous act of lunacy for which he is deeply sorry."

Judge George Moorhouse said Pollard's kind of behaviour would not be tolerated