A MAN working behind the bar of a Blackburn pub had a tooth knocked out and two others loosened when a customer reached over and punched him in the face.

Blackburn magistrates heard Paul Earnshaw threw a second punch which caught Thomas Finn on the eye before he was dragged from the pub by his friends.

The court was told there was a "history" between the two men who had known each other since they were children.

Earnshaw, 41, of Rewe Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Finn causing him actual bodily harm. He was sent to prison for three months suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £500 compensation to his victim.

Eddie Harrison, prosecuting, said that on January 1 Mr Finn was helping in the Park Pub in Montague Street, which wasowned by his sister.

Earnshaw went into the pub at about 7.30 pm with a number of friends and they had a drink.

"There was no conversation between the aggrieved and the defendant until Earnshaw shouted that Mr Finn was terrorising his sisters," said Mr Harrison.

"He then threw the two punches."

Michael Blacklidge, defending, said the two men had grown up in the same part of town. He said the disagreement between the two stemmed from Mr Finn reporting Earnshaw's nephews to the police. He said Mr Finn then had an exchange of word's with Earnshaw's 15-year-old son.

"My client says the first blow was a backhander rather than with a clenched fist."