A man who broke his victim's jaw in a bar-room flare-up has been jailed and barred from the pub.

Jordan Howarth, 21, inflicted a single punch on a man at the Mariners Compass in Middleton Road, Gorleston.

The 'violent' attack left the victim with a double fracture to his jaw, Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday.

Guy Ayers, prosecuting, said the victim had to go to the James Paget University Hospital (JPH) in Gorleston for dental work and had wire and a metal plate fitted to his jaw.

The court heard that Howarth had previous convictions for violence.

Howarth, of Pier Walk, Gorleston, admitted unlawful wounding on September 21 this year.

He was jailed for 20 months and Judge Nicholas Coleman also imposed a three-year exclusion order banning him from going back to the Mariners Compass. Sentencing him, Judge Coleman accepted there were signs that Howarth was turning the corner in his life, but said: 'You cannot continue to act in the way you have in the past or you will find yourself returning to prison time and time again.'

He said that although no weapon was used, it had been a 'violent punch.'

John Morgans for Howarth, said that he regretted his actions and the injury he caused.

'He apologises and never wants to be in this position again.'

Speaking after the case, Jo Searsby, landlady of the Mariners Compass, said of the three-year ban from the pub: 'I had already barred him for as long as I'm the landlady, so that makes no difference to me whether it's three years or 10 years.'

Ms Searsby said the Mariners Compass is a family pub and that the incident was very unusual.