Horrified witnesses saw a man repeatedly punching his disabled friend in the face as he sat in his wheelchair outside a city centre pub.

The confrontation between 47-year-old Christopher Jenks and his disabled friend James Weaver came after the landlord of the pub asked the latter to leave.

The defendant obliged by wheeling his pal outside.

But that Mr Weaver was so annoyed at this that he punched Jenks in the face, Carlisle Magistrates'Court heard.

The confrontation escalated, with Jenks punching Mr Weaver at least five times in the face.

At Carlisle's Magistrates' Court, Jenks, of Derwent Street, Workington, admitted using threatening behaviour.

John Moran, prosecuting, said Mr Weaver refused to cooperate in any way with the police and that was why Jenks was charged with a public order offence rather than something more serious.

Outlining the offence, Mr Moran said witnesses noticed the defendant and Mr Weaver outside the pub, arguing, with Jenks waving his his hand at his friend.

The victim pushed the other man away but Jenks then leaned towards his victim.

Worried passers-by were stopping to watch the argument, clearly concerned.

“At this point,” said Mr Moran, “the defendant was seen to punch Mr Weaver to the face five times while he was sitting in his wheelchair.

“Mr Weaver rolled from his seat and swung towards the defendant.”

The victim then fell from his wheelchair, after which Jenks was seen throwing his pill and his crutches towards him.

“There was a member of the public with a small child walking through this incident,” said Mr Moran.

Mr Weaver again tried to punch the defendant, and Jenks again punched him.

Even at this stage, said Mr Moran, the two continued arguing. A passing cyclist intervened, wheeling Mr Weaver away.

Shortly before the 10-minute confrontation ended, Jenks threw a “good punch” at Mr Weaver, knocking his head backwards.

Mr Moran added: “Mr Weaver did do things back but CCTV footage shows that it is the defendant who was the main aggressor. It caused great upset to the other people present.”

Rachel Dixon, for Jenks, said: “Mr Weaver had been a friend of the defendants for four months at the time of this incident.

“He had asked the defendant to take him to a medical and after that they both went to the pub and consumed alcohol. Mr Weaver was playing on slot machines and became unhappy that he wasn't having a good run of luck.

“Later, the landlord asked Mr Weaver to leave, and the defendant wheeled him out of the pub but Mr Weaver was unhappy that the defendant had done this.”

That was when Mr Weaver punched Jenks in the face, said Miss Dixon.

While he was the main aggressor, the defendant felt that his friend had simply not appreciated the help he gave him that day, said the lawyer. The row had escalated in a way that would not have happened had he been sober.

Miss Dixon added that the behaviour or Jenks, a painter and decorator, was totally out of character. He had no previous convictions for violence. He also expressed remorse for his actions.

District Judge Gerald Chalk imposed a 60 day jail term, suspending the sentence for a year. He also told Jenks to do 60 hours of unpaid work in the community. He must also pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.