A THUG who was previously jailed for his involvement in fights in the town centre on a night out has been hauled back to court.

Lewis Jenkins was jailed for 14 months in August 2022 as part of a group of four men who collectively participated in separate fights outside PJs and Reef Bar that occurred in July and December 2021, with one fight leaving a victim hospitalised with a hematoma.

The 23-year-old has recently appeared back before the court for another assault, which court documents state was serious and caused injury.

But this time he has been told he will not be heading straight to custody, with magistrates aiming to rehabilitate him instead.

Prosecuting the case, Matthew Dixon told Warrington Magistrates’ Court that this latest assault by beating occurred on Bridge Street on June 25 last year.

According to court documents, this was an ‘unprovoked attack of a serious nature’.

The court heard of his previous convictions and the fights he was involved in back in December 2021.

Liverpool Crown Court previously heard how the defendant played a ‘major role’ in the fights, with the first seeing the victim unable to get back up after being punched, with the perpetrators running away.

The court heard how he had to have a CT scan, where it was revealed he had a hematoma to the skull and was told by GPs that he had ‘probably suffered concussion’.

The second assault was an ‘unprovoked’ attack, started after the victim, who was on a works night out, accidentally bumped into Jenkins inside the club.

Jenkins punched him in response, and when the victim’s workmate tried to calm things down, he was then assaulted inside the club.

The fight then spilled outside, where a number of punches were thrown, and one victim was punched in the back of the head and kneed to the stomach after being followed.

Judge Brian Cummings described Jenkins as an immature young man who struck the first blow ‘for no obvious reason’.

Jenkins also has a previous conviction for cultivating 10 cannabis plants.

For his latest assault, magistrates commented that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

This takes into account his previous record, the fact that it was unprovoked and that injury was caused.

However, given his guilty plea, magistrates felt able to suspend the sentence, concluding that the defendant is a ‘real prospect for rehabilitation’.

Jenkins, of Rudlow Court in Padgate, was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months.

He must also complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and an alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement for 120 days.

In addition, the court ordered that he pay compensation of £200 and costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120.