Birthday celebrations ended with a prison sentence after a soup kitchen volunteer knocked out a man and tried to flee the scene.
Simon Sparrow, of Grosvenor Road in Wisbech, admitted assaulting a person and causing them actual bodily harm when he appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The 54-year-old was on a night out with his wife and friends in Lynn on September 29 last year when the events unfolded.
He and the group were having a “fantastic evening” and on their way back to their hotel when Sparrow, who had consumed four pints of lager throughout the night, decided to head to his taxi.
However, he noticed another man who was among a group of men being pushed away by his wife and decided to go over.
Sparrow threw a punch at the man, and knocked him unconscious.
The prosecution said the victim was unresponsive, with blood coming from his mouth and head, as Sparrow “stumbled” back to his taxi.
In mitigation, Charlotte Winchester said: “He very much regrets his actions, and if he could turn back time, he would not have thrown that punch.
“He should have stayed in the taxi.”
Sparrow is out of work due to a knee injury, but currently volunteers at a Salvation Army soup kitchen, the court heard.
Magistrates said: “(The victim) frankly could have died.
“You were in drink on that evening and during this incident chose to get out of that taxi.
“The offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”
Sparrow was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison and will have to pay £500 in compensation to his victim.
His family could be seen in tears as the magistrates said: “We have to play by the rules of the country – it gives us no pleasure in doing it.”
