Malt Shovel Pontefract: Lorry driver punched man unconscious outside pub in 'act of madness'

James Duker's bloodthirsty assault was caught on CCTV outside the Malt Shovel pub in Pontefract, but he continued to claim self defence up until the day he was due to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court.

The 41-year-old appeared this week where he admitted a charge of GBH with intent. The court heard that the victim had been in the Cornmarket pub on the evening of January 1, 2022. Duker was caught on camera becoming involved in a scuffle in the doorway with the victim after engaging with a member of the victim's family.

He then went outside with the man who is spotted falling to the floor with Duker continuing to rain blows down on him with his fists, despite him obviously being knocked out. The man suffered a laceration to his face and a broken nose and eye socket. No reason was given in court as to what sparked the violent confrontation.

Duker, a father-of-six, was arrested that night and accepted being the man in the footage, but said he was protecting himself, a stance he maintained up until his trial.

Mitigating, Richard Canning said Duker, of Box Lane, Pontefract, has no previous convictions and "worked hard for his children" as a lorry driver. He added: "He is a very, very hard-working individual but for those 10 seconds in which he committed an act of madness."

Judge Neil Clark questioned why Duker claimed self defence, given that the footage clearly shows him attacking the vulnerable man as he is laid prone on the floor. He said: "You must have done it out of fear, nobody would have thought that was self defence."

He gave Duker 24 months' jail, suspended for 24 months, ordered him to complete 20 rehabilitation days, a 90-day alcohol abstinence programme, 200 hours of unpaid work and £2,000 compensation to the victim.