A THUG involved in a late night drunken "free-for-all" at a Swindon train station, which saw a man suffer a fractured skull, has been jailed for 16 months.

Nathan Groves had to be restrained after lashing out with fists and feet during the punch-up after a night out drinking in the run-up to Christmas.

Two other men involved in the scrap in the subway under the tracks at Swindon station were given suspended sentences.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, showed a judge at Swindon Crown Court CCTV footage of the incident at midnight on Friday, December 12, last year.

Declan Townsend, 25, was making his way to the platform with friends and family when he made a remark to Thomas Harvey, 24, about a former girlfriend of theirs.

The pair then started fighting after Harvey threw the first punch, out of sight of the camera, near the ticket barrier and others, including 25-year-old Groves, joined in.

She said Townsend’s father Neil stepped in to try to protect his son but was punched by Groves, who then kicked him as he was slumped over a barrier.

Groves was then knocked to the floor and Townsend stamped on him. Harvey’s elbow caught Townsend’s father in the face, knocking him out cold.

Miss Squire said station staff and other members of the group managed to restore order and by the time the police arrived Neil Townsend had come to.

As a result of the incident the court was told he suffered a fractured skull and the loss of his sense of smell.

Groves, of Downing Street, Harvey, of Bradbury Close, and Townsend, of Malmesbury Road, all Chippenham, admitted affray.

Tristan Harwood, for Groves, said his client accepted he faced custody as he was on early release from prison at the time.

He said he had been returned to serve the remainder of the four-and-a-half years he got in 2011 for GBH with intent.

Despite his history he said he had always worked and after being returned to prison carried out the theory test as he tried to qualify as a roofer.

Andrew Eddy, for Harvey, said his client was jailed for more than four years in 2011 for a robbery of a petrol station robbery and since then has been trying to turn his life around.

After working in a factory for a few months after he was released he said he got an apprenticeship as a chef at the Bowood Hotel from 2013 to last year.

He said he is now working for a Michelin-starred restaurant in Southampton after getting a high achievers award from the probation service while on licence.

Although it was his elbow which knocked out Neil Townsend he said it was an accident and he regrets getting involved.

Michael Hall, for Townsend, said although his client started the violence with a comment he came into the CCTV footage "on his back".

He said he also saw his father being knocked out, had always worked, and had no previous convictions to his name, just a police caution.

Passing sentence Judge Tim Mousley QC said: “It was drunken, disgraceful, behaviour involving you three and other members of your family and friends, many of whom were lucky not to be standing in the dock with you.

"It was an appalling spectacle: mercifully it seems not many members of the public had the misfortune to witness what your yobbish behaviour was that night.”