A 46-year-old operations manager who assaulted another man outside a Tewkesbury pub during a Boxing Day brawl has been sentenced in court.

Dad-of-one Marc Stephens, who works for a garden maintenance company, had denied assaulting Ian Wilkes at the Royal Hop Pole, Tewkesbury on December 26, 2017.

He also denied assaulting a woman, Hollie Smith, causing her actual bodily harm, during the same incident.

At the end of a six day trial he was cleared today of assaulting Ms Smith but the jury of five women and six men found him guilty by a majority of 10 to one found of assaulting Mr Wilkes.

Marc Stephens' brother Philip Stephens was also accused of assaulting Mr Wilkes but was found not guilty by the jury.

Judge Michael Cullum at Gloucester Crown Court imposed an eight-month jail term suspended for twelve months on Marc and ordered him to do one hundred and eighty hours of unpaid work.

"You hit him in the face, repeatedly causing unpleasant injuries," he told Stephens.

Prosecutor Caighli Taylor told the jury at the start of the trial that the incident took place outside the pub where the Stephens brothers had been drinking.

Mr Wilkes had also been in the pub with Hollie Smith, and her brother Liam, the barrister said.

"It was when everyone emptied out that things started to happen," she said.

"Mr Wilkes went to the toilet, and Liam Smith went to a kebab house for some food.

"Hollie Smith was outside the pub on her own. It was raining and she had her umbrella up.

"The defendants come out and one of them made some comment about her umbrella.

"This made her uncomfortable. She felt so uncomfortable, she told Mr Wilkes about it, and when Mr Smith returned she told him too.

"That prompted Mr Smith to go over to the taxi where the defendants were to ask about what they said.

"It then all kicked off," Ms Taylor said.

"Marc Stephens went for Ian Wilkes in an apparently unprovoked attack. He punched him in the face," she told the jury.

"Mr Wilkes ended up on the floor face down with Marc Stephens on top. Punching him repeatedly.

"He also bit him to the finger," the prosecutor said.

Marc Stephens returned to Mr Wilkes, who was clearly injured, and goes for him a second time.

"Mr Wilkes, who was punched repeatedly, had a black eye, multiples cuts, bruising, and minor fractures to eye socket and nose.

"There was a 5mm cut to middle finger from when we say he was bitten."

Marc Stephens told the jury that the others were the aggressors and all his actions were defensive. However he was convicted at the conclusion of the trial and sentenced to the suspended jail term.

He was also ordered to pay compensation to Mr Wilkes of £700 and court costs and surcharges of £1,440.

Marc Stephen's defence lawyer, Steven Young said: "He wants this whole thing behind him as soon as possible.

"What went wrong is they should not have got out of the taxi.

"Genuinely, neither of them contemplated any problems that night.

"Had Ms Smith not for some reason take offence, nothing would have happened.

"He is remorseful. He is very saddened by the fact Mr Wilkes received those injuries.

"He accepts he must be punished by his personal time being taken away from him. He is very unlikely to get in to that position again," Mr Young concluded.

The judge told Marc Stephens: "I am satisfied the incident was brought to you. You reacted by getting out of the taxi, That was the catalyst for the confrontation.

"Ian Wilkes was not an aggressor. You hit him in the face repeatedly causing unpleasant injuries.

The judge described the Marc Stephens' actions as 'very significantly out of character' - a factor which allowed him to suspend the prison sentence.

Marc Stephens is from Rainbow Hill, Worcester.