A WAITER who assaulted four women after spotting two of them arguing in the town centre in the early hours has been ordered to hand over £1,000.

Joao Desilva left one of his victims with a fractured cheekbone after stepping in to try to calm the victims in the early hours of the morning.

But instead of cooling the situation, the 44-year-old started a punch-up which led to him suffering a badly bitten nose.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that the women were in a larger group making their way home from the Pink Rooms club on Sunday, May 12, last year.

At about 5am they were walking along Temple Street arguing loudly when they spotted Desilva staring at them and sniggering.

Hayley Deoliveira asked him what he was laughing at and pushed him in the chest before swearing at him, telling him to go away.

“She said he was laughing at her. She pushed him again and at that point he swung for her with a fist, but missed,’’ Miss Hingston said.

“He then grabbed her around the collar and the others intervened to help her.

“For reasons that are not entirely clear the defendant seems to have directed most of his aggression at Melissa Boguszewicz.

“When she tried to prevent him from assaulting her friend, he headbutted her, causing her to fall to the floor.’’ She said there was then a confused scene with the women struggling with Desilva as he was on top of Miss Boguszewicz, who bit him hard to the nose.

He punched Miss Monger in the face, giving her a split lip, and also punched Miss Deoliveira, leaving her with a bloodied nose.

Desilva, of Colchester Close, Toothill, pleaded guilty to four counts of common assaults.

Stephen Parker, defending, said his client, who is from Portugal, works as a waiter and had been out with a friend on the night of the incident.

“He said he came across the two ladies arguing and he was concerned about that,’’ he told the court.

Although his client had been drinking, Mr Parker said Desilva was not drunk, unlike some of the victims.

“With the benefit of hindsight he wishes he had just carried on rather than intervened,’’ he said.

“When he went to intervene he was pushed first. Then, quite frankly, things completely got out of hand from that point on.

“He accepts he has gone too far with the result being the assaults that took place. It may have started as a self defence but it went way beyond that.’’ Passing sentence, Judge Peter Blair QC said: “I have to sentence you for some disgraceful behaviour.

“You got involved in somebody else's problems and allowed yourself then to react to them far in excess of anything that could possibly be justified.’’ He told him he must do 220 hours of unpaid work, pay £600 compensation with £340 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.