A MAN who broke another man’s tooth because he was talking to his ex-girlfriend in a pub has been told a woman is “not property”.

Lewis Michael Earle made the unprovoked attack after the second man bought his ex-girlfriend a drink and chatted to her, said Natalie Chapman, prosecuting.

He punched him in the face, breaking a tooth.

The victim told police later that had the defendant spoken to him he would have told him nothing was going on between them, said the prosecutor.

Earle, 24, who is about to move to Barff Lane, Brayton, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm.

“She is not and was not your property,” district judge Adrian Lower told Earle. “It is not for you to decide what was acceptable for her to do and what was not.

“The fact that you had taken drink and drugs is no excuse for what happened.”

He passed a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered Earle to do 30 days’ rehabilitation activities and 200 hours’ unpaid work.

He also banned Earle from going to the Zuzu Lounge in Selby where the attack happened for two years.

The district judge took Earle’s lack of income into account when ordering him to pay the victim £250 compensation.

Ms Chapman told him the victim had already had to pay £250 in dental charges and was expecting to have to pay £1,500.

Graham Parkin said Earle had mental health problems and for a time had been referred to the mental health crisis team earlier this year. He had offered to pay for the dental repairs but had been told that it would not be appropriate for him to contact the victim while the court case was ongoing.

He was hoping to get help for anger management through his GP.

Ms Chapman said the victim bought the drink when out with friends in Selby town centre on May 11.

Later the same evening the woman came up to speak with him again.

“The defendant suddenly appeared by his side,” she said. “The defendant without warning, punched him to the side of the face.”