A YOUNG man from Selby who gave a young woman a “significant” head injury by pushing her over after she kicked him between the legs has been prosecuted.

Rebecca Woodthorpe was knocked unconscious in the street fracas and doctors kept her in hospital for a day because she felt dizzy following the incident, said Stephanie Hancock, prosecuting, at York Crown Court.

Her friends felt threatened by David George Newnham, 22, formerly of Common Road, Barlby, and said he was being aggressive outside the Natwest Bank branch in York city centre, in the early hours of April 11.

Defence barrister Ruth Cranidge, quoting prosecution witness statements, said the woman was part of a group that had been thrown out of a club earlier in the night for “messing about in the toilets”.

She also said some of the group had hit Newnham on the back of the head before he pushed Ms Woodthorpe.

Miss Hancock said police did not ask Ms Woodthorpe about a CCTV recording that showed her kicking Newnham shortly before the blow, but that the woman in a statement told officers: “It’s not me who has done anything wrong”.

Both sides agreed those involved had been drinking.

Estate manager Newnham, now living near Aberystwyth, in Wales, pleaded guilty to affray and was given a community order with 12 months’ supervision. The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, declined to order him to pay Ms Woodthorpe compensation, saying she could seek it elsewhere.

The court heard that the 22-year-old had acted out of character and had not intended to cause the injury.