A THUG broke a father's skull and an Army officer's jawbone in separate unprovoked attacks outside a York shop, a court heard.

Simon Hickey, prosecuting, told York Crown Court that York family man Gavin Patterson suffered fractures to his skull, eye socket and jawbone when he called at the shop to buy biscuits.

When he reached Jacksons' supermarket in Bishopthorpe Road, York, Craig Michael Owston was partially blocking its doorway and knocked into him.

Without warning, he punched Mr Patterson in the face with a clenched fist, felled him to the ground and kicked him in the face and body.

Owston had already broken serving Army officer Marcus Brown's jawbone in an earlier incident.

"It is only by good fortune that you were not facing a charge of manslaughter," the judge told Owston. "For the good of the public, you have to go away until you grow up a bit."

He jailed him for three years.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, for Owston, said that his behaviour was due to him taking alcohol and the blood-thinning medication warfarin.

Owston, of Peppercorn House, Poppleton Road, York, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Patterson and actual bodily harm to Mr Brown and assaulting store detectives Marcus Maughan and Paul Verity when they put him under a citizen's arrest. He has ten previous convictions for violence and public order offences.

Mr Hickey said the shop staff acted when they saw the two attacks outside Jackson's and sustained injuries to their arms as they tried to restrain Owston.

The violence began when Mr Brown and his fiance were walking past Jackson's on July 20. Three men including Owston were outside Jackson's and one of them threw beer over Mr Brown.

When the soldier objected, Owston hit him in the face, fracturing his jawbone, and made off.

Sometime later, he returned to the shop and blocked the doorway, perhaps accidentally, perhaps intentionally, as Mr Patterson tried to enter.

Mr Hill-Baker said Owston had taken to drink when his relationship with his girlfriend ended. He was also taking warfarin because he had thrombosis in one arm.

Owston had not thrown the drink over Mr Brown.

Updated: 11:43 Wednesday, November 20, 2002