A 23-year-old St Davids man who punched a female bar worker to the floor, fracturing her left eye socket and cheekbone, has been given a suspended jail sentence by Haverfordwest magistrates.

Admitting the charge of causing grievous bodily harm to Nadine Dauncey was Jack Rees, of Trefeiddan Farm, Haverfordwest.

Magistrates heard how, on the evening of September 9, 2021, Rees, who works as a self-employed plant operator, had been out drinking with his partner and a group of friends in St David’s.

Shortly after reaching the Rafa Club, Rees’s partner was seen to get into an altercation with Ms Dauncey who was working behind the bar, resulting in them having to be separated by onlookers.

At this point Rees punched Ms Dauncey once to the face, causing her to fall to the floor.

Magistrates were shown CCTV footage of the assault which Crown Prosecutor Linda Baker said resulted in a fracture to Ms Dauncey’s left eye socket and also her left cheekbone.

Ms Baker said that following the assault, Rees phoned 101 and admitted assaulting the complainant.

He was legally represented in court by Mr Tom Lloyd who said the offence has had a profound effect on his client.

“I saw your reaction as you watched the CCTV footage,” said Tom Lloyd, “and it’s clearly a gravely unpleasant incident which is not nice to watch.

“But there are two sides to this coin. It was my client who called 101 to say he was involved in the altercation and it’s my client who texted the complainant the following day to apologise.

"He’s extremely upset and distraught at what he’s done.”

Mr Lloyd went on to say that the offence has had a profound impact on his client.

“It’s hard to understand what he’s gone through these last few months having been ostracised because of what happened that evening. But his behaviour afterwards speaks volumes about him.”

Magistrates requested a short adjournment enabling probation officer Julie Norman to complete an ‘all options’ report.

Following its consideration, magistrates sentenced Rees to 26 weeks in custody suspended for 18 months and must carry out 175 hours of unpaid work.

He was ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to Nadine Dauncey, a £128 surcharge and £85 costs.