DENYING that he had assaulted a man on a night out last year a man then missed his day in court to put his side of events across.

Jordan Sear was found guilty in absentia by magistrates sitting in Chippenham on December 14 of last year of one charge of assault dating from July 20, 2015. On Monday morning he was brought before the court in Swindon to be sentenced for the matter after a warrant was issued for his arrest, which saw him spend the weekend in the cells.

The court heard that the 29-year-old of Macdonald Close, Didcot, had been among a group of people on a night out in Swindon town centre when the assault against Scott Nankervis was alleged to have taken place at Lava Lounge on Fleet Street shortly after midnight.

The magistrates were told that Sear had played a lesser role in the incident, and a co-defendant - Joseph Gunning, 29, of Ferndale Road – had previously been sentenced to an electronically monitored curfew for six weeks during a separate hearing at the end of last year. He had also been ordered to pay compensation to Mr Nankervis’ partner James Cook who had suffered a split lip in the incident.

The court had heard that Gunning had been speaking with the victims prior to the incident, and it was not an unprovoked attack as had been alleged. The matter had gone to a Newton hearing – where a judge sitting alone hears evidence from both parties – which cleared Gunning of homophobic abuse alleged by the victim.

Defending Sear on Monday Mark Glendenning said: “Mr Sear is seen on CCTV trying to calm things down and goes on to strike someone. He accepts that he should have been in court. There were no injuries caused on Mr Sear’s part. It was excessive self-defence. He went beyond reasonable means of self-defence.”

Sentencing Sear, chairman of the bench Geoff Earl said: “For the matter of common assault you will be fined £100 and there will be a victim surcharge of £20, as well as court costs of £620 on top of that.”