Published: October 18, 2012
Boxing coach walks free from court after Burnham-On-Sea bar brawl

A boxing coach who injured a man during a brawl outside a Burnham-On-Sea bar has walked free from court.

Christopher Edwards, 27, left Chris Rex needing metal plates and screws in his jaw following the attack outside Skye Bar in Burnham High Street, pictured.

Mr Edwards, of Highbridge Quay, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence plus a four-month curfew when he appeared before magistrates at Taunton Crown Court.

Prosecutor William Hunter told the court that Edwards went into the bar on June 9th to 'teach Mr Rex a lesson.'

He said that CCTV images showed the defendant punch him to the face, adding that the victim fell to the floor. He was then in hospital for two and a half days with a fractured jaw and was left with severe pain and required to have plates inserted to keep his jaw in place.

Rebecca Bradbury, defending, said that Mr Edwards admitted it from the outset and added that he could not explain why he acted as he did.

Sentencing Mr Edwards, Judge Graham Hume Jones said he should have known how to control his violence given his previous line of work as a boxing coach in the army. He added that the incident was a pre-meditated attack.