Pontefract pub thug's punch broke woman's jaw and left her unconscious in a pool of her own blood

CCTV outside the Horse Vaults pub in Pontefract captured the moment Sam Lee Hebblethwaite knocked the woman out with one blow, moments after he punched another man involved in the melee.

She suffered three fractures to her jaw, lost five teeth, required to have her jaw wired shut and lived off a liquid diet for six weeks.

Hebblethwaite had been in the pub at around 6pm on June 5, 2021, when there was a disagreement and the woman threw her drink over him, which he appeared to “laugh off”, prosecutor Heather Gilmore told Leeds Crown Court.

But later on he then threw at drink at her and the disagreement spilled out onto the pavement on Horse Fair. A car then turned up containing a friend of the female and Hebblethwaite appeared to confront the driver before throwing a punch.

The woman intervened and appeared to lift her leg up towards Hebblethwaite in an attempt to knee him, who reacted by punching her and knocking her unconscious.

The 31-year-old, of Beech Street, Pontefract, was arrested four days later after handing himself into the police station at Normanton. The court heard that he has previous convictions including affray and violence.

He admitted affray and Section 20 GBH for the attack on the woman. Mitigating, Mohammed Rafiq said the woman had made moves towards him and it was a case of “self defence gone too far”, which was accepted by the Crown.

He said: “He accepts he hit the man, the victim then raised a leg, and as a result, he gave one blow which resulted in her falling. He very much regrets it, it happened very quickly but there was a build-up.”

The court also heard that he had ADHD and suffered from anxiety and depression, and helped care for his mother and brother.

The judge, Recorder Robert Ward jailed him for 36 weeks and told him: "You had plenty of opportunity to leave the area but you chose not to.”