A MAN has been fined for his part in a mass brawl during a night out in Warrington town centre.

Joseph Maher, from Orford, threw a number of punches during an early hours scuffle involving 10 to 20 people on Academy Way.

And the 26-year-old was fined hundreds of pounds after being found guilty of using threatening behaviour in his absence at Warrington Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 24.

Police were called to the town centre street at around 4.30am on Sunday, September 16, after receiving reports of a 'large group of people fighting' in the area.

Maher, of Grasmere Avenue, was caught on CCTV sparking the brawl by punching a man in the face.

When this man punched back, Maher was seen to throw several more punches before the group fled when officers arrived on the scene.

While the defendant was identified through the footage due to his distinctive checked shirt, no other assailants involved were caught by police.

Under interview, he told officers he had been assaulted by an unknown male in Voodoo nightclub on Friars Gate.

The man 'asked him what he was looking at' before punching him in the face.

When Maker left the bar, he saw the same male outside with a group of other men and began to throw punches when he saw one of the group push his sister over - having felt 'harassed and intimidated'.

He admitted to officers that he had 'had a few drinks and regretted his actions'.

Magistrates ordered Maher to pay £85 in court costs, fined him £180 and told him to pay a victim surcharge of £85.