A COUPLE from York have avoided jail sentences after an "out of character" attack on another couple in a suburban pub.

Nicola Kelly, 39, and Neil Harrison, 44, were both given suspended sentences after they assaulted a man and a woman in the Duck Turpin pub on Moorcroft Road, Woodthorpe, on Saturday, August 22, last year.

Kelly, of Oldman Court, Foxwood, had started speaking to Sadie Brown at the bar and although Miss Brown asked to be left alone, Kelly and her partner Neil Harrison soon followed Miss Brown and her partner Mark Neville into another room at the pub. Harrison then punched Mr Neville in the face.

Prosecutor Georgina Goring told the court that both men ended up on the floor. Mr Neville managed to restrain Harrison, and let go once he thought he had calmed down, but Harrison started punching him again.

At the same time, Kelly had punched Mr Neville in the back, and had attacked Sadie Brown hitting her and pulling out a chunk of her hair.

The court also heard that other customers had tried to intervene in the violence, and that Mr Neville had been left with a gash on his eyebrow after the attack.

The pair had pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm on the day of their trial, due to start on April 27 this year. Harrison was sentenced for one charge against Mr Neville while Kelly was sentenced for two charges, relating to both Mr Neville and Miss Brown.

Defending Neil Harrison, of Sandcroft Close, Robert Stevenson said his client had been out of trouble for two decades leading an "honest, hard working" life.

For Nicola Kelly, solicitor advocate Mark Partridge said references from his client's employers and friends showed the kind of person she was, and said that the assaults had been a "one-off" incident.

Judge Deborah Sherwin gave them both a six month prison sentence, suspended over 18 months, and ordered them to do 180 hours unpaid work each.

Sentencing them, she said it was a" nasty and unpleasant incident" but added: "It was out of character for the two of you, and unlikely to be repeated."