A BRYNMAWR man killed a fellow drinker in "an old fashioned pub brawl where there was only going to be one winner," a court heard yesterday.

Gareth Jenkins, 48, was given a five-year jail term for manslaughter today for killing Harry Towers, 56, from Abergavenny.

Jenkins, of Boundary Street, was cleared of murder following a two-week trial, but convicted of manslaughter.

Mr Towers died seven weeks after the fight outside the Britannia Pub in Frogmore Street, Abergavenny.

Newport Crown Court heard that while drinking at the pub on October 28, 2010, Jenkins and Mr Towers got involved in an argument before Mr Towers goaded Jenkins into going outside for a fight.

Prosecutor Peter Murphy said it was admitted that Mr Towers was equally willing to get involved in the brawl.

Once outside, Jenkins punched Mr Towers in the face, which sent him sprawling backwards. While he was on his knees and struggling to get to his feet, Jenkins hit him again in the face before punching him to the face once more while he was on his back on the floor.

Mr Towers suffered a fractured jaw, cheekbone and eye socket and a displaced fracture of a wrist. He was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, and spent a week in intensive care.

He was transferred to a trauma and orthopaedic ward but his condition deteriorated. He was found to have suffered a fractured skull which had not shown up on admission or on initial scans.

Mr Towers died in hospital on December 22, 2010.

During his trial, Jenkins said Mr Towers had a reputation for carrying weapons and feared he might have a knife.

Yesterday, the court heard Jenkins had been a hard-working and law-abiding man for most of his life.

Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams said: "This was an old fashioned pub brawl where there was only going to be one winner. You were far bigger and heavier than Mr Towers and very capable of using your fists. He quite literally never recovered from the beating you gave him."