A Portishead man has been handed a suspended prison sentence after headbutting a work colleague on a night out.

Patrick Golledge, of Argentina Place, left James Cawthorne bleeding and in need of dental treatment after the violent episode.

He pleaded guilty when he appeared at North Somerset Courthouse in St Georges.

Golledge and Mr Cawthorne were sales assistant at Currys in Weston when the attack happened on October 12.

The pair, along with three other colleagues, had gone out drinking in Weston when they decided to get a takeaway.

They argued after Golledge tried to pick Mr Cawthorne up twice using a fireman’s lift, succeeding only in knocking him over.

Mr Cawthorne lost his cigarettes having been dropped and he asked Golledge to pick them up. When Golledge refused, the pair ended up grappling and it ended with the defendant headbutting his colleague.

May Li, prosecuting, said: “This was done very quickly and Mr Cawthorne didn’t have time to move.

“He felt immediate pain.

“It was a totally unsuspected and unnecessary act and Mr Cawthorne was shocked.”

Mr Cawthorne has had to pay more than £900 in dental work to sort out his teeth following the attack, the court was told on June 1.

He was also signed off by his doctor because he was struggling to cope with working alongside the defendant.

James Mumford, defending, said: “Mr Golledge has expressed his regret and genuine remorse for what he did.

“It appears with Mr Golledge that when he drinks, he has a problem.

“There’s much that is sensible about him, but the monkey on his back is that when he drinks it triggers something inside him.

“What appeared to start out as banter obviously ended in an entirely inappropriate fashion.”

Golledge, aged 23, was ordered to pay £600 compensation, £80 victim surcharge and £85 costs. Magistrates also handed him a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.