AN EBBW Vale man has been jailed for 12 months for assaulting a man outside a pub leaving him with a fractured skull.

Anthony Richards, 24, of The Walk, Nantyglo, was sentenced at Newport Crown Court for knocking Christian Ricard unconscious outside the Glasgow House pub in Abertillery.

The incident happened on November, 25, 2012.

The court heard Mr Ricard had sustained two fractures to his skull and was in hospital for five days.

A CT scan on November 26 confirmed that he had traumatic brain swelling to the left side of the brain and a side fraction to the right side with overlying soft tissue swelling.

His injuries are believed to have affected his short term memory, concentration, thought process and decision making.

The court was shown CCTV footage of the fight which involved others and saw Mr Ricard taking hold of the defendant up against a van and then Richards knocking Mr Ricard unconscious.

Richards pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Richards has four previous convictions from 2009 until 2011 including two entries for assault in 2010 for which he received a community order which was then revoked and imprisonment imposed on him.

In 2011 he was jailed for four years for kidnapping and 18 months for assault occasioning on a 28-year-old woman from Brynmawr.

Judge Patrick Curran QC, said: "I accept that you did not intend to sustain injury but it was member of the public who was trying his very best to stop trouble outside a public house. For his trouble he received a fractured skull, an injury which could have been fateful.

"I have taken into account your strenuous effort to change your life in particular to obtain employment.

"You will be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, to serve half the term and then released into the community. Any further offences and you will serve the rest of your term."