A THUG who continued to punch a father while he lay helpless on the ground in front of his screaming wife and young children has been jailed.

Duncan Tiller said he “no longer feels safe in Wales” and has moved to England after Michael Coxe brutally assaulted him in a pub before he was driven to the victim’s house to continue beating him up outside his own home.

The complainant was covered in blood and had been left powerless and unable to defend himself after his left shoulder was dislocated by his attacker.

The violence erupted at Nelson’s Hollybush Inn after drinkers had been watching the Wales v Scotland Six Nations rugby match there on television in February 2018.

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Prosecutor Laurence Jones said businessman Coxe, aged 45, had entered the pub with others after the game had finished.

There had been previous bad feeling between one of his companions and the victim, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Mr Jones said Coxe and Mr Tiller had bumped into each other in the pub with the latter apologising to him.

I feel as if I have lost everything and have to rebuild my life from scratch

The defendant tried to punch the complainant who was taken into the kitchen by landlord Thomas McCoy to try and defuse the situation.

The prosecutor said: “Coxe followed the victim in there and punched him three times in the face, causing him to fall back into some fire extinguishers and to hit his head on a sink as he went down.

“The victim’s shoulder was dislocated and he was unable to defend himself.

“The defendant punched him a further 10 times and knocked Mr Tiller unconscious. He was covered in blood and his face was swollen.”

He was knocked down through the cellar door and over beer barrels.

Mr Jones said Mr McCoy drove the complainant home and an ambulance was called to take him to hospital.

When the landlord got back to the Hollybush Inn, he was “intimidated” by Coxe to take him back to Mr Tiller’s house and the defendant got into the car with two other men.

He was dropped off near Mr Tiller’s address where he started repeatedly punching him as he lay on the ground waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Mr Jones said that the victim’s terrified children witnessed this second assault and his daughter was screaming: ‘Leave my daddy alone!’ Just before he left the scene, Coxe told Mr Tiller, “Do you want some more?” and “This ain’t over”.

The victim was taken to Merthyr Tydfil’s Price Charles Hospital where he was treated for the dislocated shoulder, a broken nose, a cut to his head and black eyes.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Tiller said: “I no longer feel safe living in Wales and I have moved to England.

“My marriage has now broken down and I am getting a divorce. I am £28,000 in debt as I have to claim Personal Independence Payment after being declared unfit for work.

“I feel as if I have lost everything and have to rebuild my life from scratch.”

Coxe, of Pentwyn Road, Treharris, pleaded guilty, on the day of his trial, to causing Mr Tiller grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm.

John Ryan, representing the company director, said his client was a “workaholic” and a “caring father”.

He added: “The defendant is at a loss to explain why he behaved as he did. He has lost his previous good character.

“There is genuine shame and remorse.”

Judge Richard Williams told Coxe: “You were intoxicated and subjected your victim to gratuitous degradation. This assault was life-changing for him.

“You repeatedly beat a man when his children were present. He has lost his family, his home and his job and is crippled with debt.”

Coxe was jailed for two years.