A TEENAGER faces prison after punching someone in a Darlington nightclub three times in a case of "mistaken identity".

The victim needed a metal plate inserted in his jaw, which was fractured, and spent six weeks on a soft food diet after the incident.

The attacker, Marc Joseph Webster, 19, of Neasham, near Darlington, pleaded guilty at Darlington Magistrates' Court to causing grievous bodily harm.

David Madison, prosecuting, said the attack happened at Escapade nightclub, Gladstone Street, in the early hours of Sunday, May 18.

The victim felt liquid being thrown on him, Mr Madison said.

He turned to see where it had come from, and when he turned back, Webster was facing him.

He felt a sharp blow to the left side of his face, near his mouth, and two more blows to the right side of his face. After the third punch, the victim fell to the floor.

He was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital before being transferred to The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

He had two fractures to his lower jaw, and injured his wrist when he fell.

The court heard how the victim was now nervous when he went out, Mr Madison said.

Webster admitted the attack to police, and said he had been setupon earlier in the night.

He thought his victim was one of those who attacked him, but accepted "in the cold light of day" it wasn't.

Stephen Andrews, mitigating, said: "It's a classic case of mistaken identity, and perhaps a further classic case of taking the law into your own hands. By his own admission, he was heavily intoxicated.

Magistrates ordered a full presentence report. Webster, a mechanic, will reappear at Darlington Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, February 12. He was released on unconditional bail.