Preston club attacker leaves Special Constabulary officer with a broken ankle

The victim, Michael Newsham, underwent surgery to fix the fracture with plates and screws after being pushed over during the fracas outside Rift Nightclub on main Spirit Weind last September.

Music technology student Giovanni Mfuni, 20, was given an eight month jail term, suspended for 18 months and must do 100 hours unpaid work, after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Preston Crown Court heard Mfuni, of Hawkshead Street, Blackburn, had been out with his girlfriend - who later admitted a breach of the peace - and had taken exception to being asked to leave the club, arguing with the doormen.

When police officers arrived at around 1.20am, Mfuni struggled with them, causing one to fall over, breaking his ankle.

He was pushed into a doorway, in an attempt to calm him down, but as he pushed back, one of the officers fell to the floor.

Paul Brookwell, prosecuting, said: "In interview he accepted he had been ejected after a male had assaulted him, and he had a confrontation with the man but ended up being the man ejected.

"He accepted police were trying to calm him down but the door staff was winding him up or staring at him and this made him angry."

The court heard he had previous convictions and was sentenced just a day after the attack for a public order offence.

Joe Hart, defending, said he did not intend to harm the officer.

He added: "He's in the doorway and has calmed down on the face of it. The officer's come to speak to him and it is mainly his girlfriend who is remonstrating.

Recorder Michael Murray, sentencing, said: “ You got into a situation with the police officers who were there to keep the peace and I'm satisfied you were drunk, which does you no favours at all.

“I can see because you were drunk you weren't keen on being arrested, but as I see it, it was justifiable because of the way you were behaving.

"It is notably in a reckless rather than deliberate fashion."