A man has admitted an assault charge after a consensual fist fight was followed by him unlawfully kicking his opponent in the head as he lay on the ground.
CCTV footage played at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court showed 34-year-old Guntis Brauers and the other man emerge from a flat at Arnison Court in Penrith on the evening of March 14 last year.
The two men were bare chested and engaged in a fight which Brauers got the better of, said a prosecutor, with his rival left lying on the ground.
Brauers returned to the flat but then came out within a minute and delivered a single kick to the other man’s head.
Paramedics attended the scene, the injured man was advised to attend hospital and tests later showed a fracture to the C1 neck bone.
He was placed in a neck collar, was monitored at a Newcastle hospital fracture clinic and later described the incident as unpleasant.
In court, Brauers, of Arnison Court, Penrith, admitted assaulting the man, causing actual bodily harm.
A defence solicitor said Brauers had been subjected to name-calling and insults which resulted in the initial fight, and had then kicked out after the man shouted at him again while grounded.
A district judge adjourned the case, requesting the preparation of a pre-sentence report by the probation service.
Brauers is next due to attend court on March 2, and in the meantime he has been granted bail.
