A JEALOUS dad who broke a love rival’s skull with a ‘blindside’ punch in a Worcester nightclub has been spared jail.

Jordan Greenham admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm against Liam Goddard in Bushwackers but was spared an immediate jail sentence at Hereford Crown Court on Friday and ordered to pay compensation instead.

We reported how Greenham, aged 25, of Lancelott Court, Pershore was rearraigned at the request of his advocate during a hearing in court one before Judge Nicolas Cartwright last month.

However, the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report by the probation service. When Greenham attended Hereford Crown Court, sitting at the town's magistrates court, he was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months, ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work, pay £5,000 compensation to the injured party and £1,800 prosecution costs.

At the previous hearing the clerk put the charge to him again and he pleaded guilty to ‘unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm’ against Mr Goddard on June 22 last year.

The case was prosecuted by Amanda O’Mara while Jason Patel appeared for the defence.

No plea had originally been indicated and a trial had been scheduled to take place this October which can now be vacated to allow other cases to be heard.

Judge Cartwight said at the last hearing: “The prosecution case is that Mr Greenham is the ex-boyfriend of this young woman who has formed a relationship with the complainant.”

Mr Cartwright also said an independent eyewitness had described the blow as ‘a punch from the blindside’.

However, he said Greenham said it was him who was in a relationship with the young woman and ‘the complainant had been sleeping with her’.

Jason Patel, for Greenham, said there had been ‘a crossover in the relationship in respect of that driving forward his misjudgement of the scenario’.

Mr Patel said he believed the case was between category two and three within the sentencing guidelines with a starting point of 18 months in custody.

He said his client had a single reprimand on his record from June last year.