A DUDLEY man who head butted a man in the face, knocking out his front teeth before punching him in the face, fracturing an eye socket, has been jailed for 32 months.

Craig Higginson was on bail at the time of the vicious attack in the White Swan pub in Baptist End Road, Netherton, for assaulting a hotel manager in Blackpool.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told Higginson grabbed the hotel manager by the throat after he had told him he was not allowed to smoke on the premises.

The 34-year-old was also the subject of a 40 week suspended prison sentence, imposed for wounding his partner, who had to have 10 stitches for a mouth injury.

Judge John Warner told Higginson the assault in the public house had been "repeated and sustained" and CCTV of the incident vividly showed what took place.

"You would not be held back and you head butted this young man," said the judge.

"Then you went back and you punched him in the face."

Mark Rees, prosecuting, said the 20-year-old victim, Craig Woodhouse had been in the public house and he had been talking to Higginson's girlfriend but he told him: "Stay out of our conversation."

Mr Woodhouse thought he was joking but he was then suddenly butted in the mouth, knocking a number of teeth to the floor and he was then punched in the eye.

Nigel Ford, defending, said there had been an exchange of words and Higginson accepted he was a man with a number of problems that had to be resolved.

"He is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character," said Mr Ford.

"He is bright and intelligent but clearly there is a different side to him as the CCTV shows."

Higginson, a father-of-one, of Harrison Fold, Dudley, admitted common assault on the hotel manager, inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Woodhouse and also breaching the suspended sentence order.