A security worker could be stripped of his licence after pleading guilty to attacking a man in Carlisle.

Paul Daniel Smith, 27, admitted a common assault on George Smith in the city on September 26.

He now faces potentially being stripped of his security worker's licence as a result.

At Carlisle's Rickergate court, prosecutor Peter Kelly described how the defendant was having a night out in the city when he encountered his victim at around 1.40am near to the Bronx nightclub in Botchergate.

The victim was talking to another person when Smith walked up to him and and asked his name.

He then told him: "Then we've got a problem."

The defendant began punching his victim, his fist making the contact with the man's face three times.

Nick Kennon, for Smith, said the defendant had no previous convictions but this offence would have a long-term effects on his life.

Smith's security industry licence would now be reviewed by a specialist industry panel as a result of the conviction.

Mr Kennon suggested that the defendant, of Meadow View, Harraby, carried out the attack because of something the victim had said about his girlfriend. "But he regrets the incident," added the lawyer.

He said Smith, who was not a door supervisor but worked in site security, was now living at home in Carlisle with his parents.

He was helping out after his father suffered a number of strokes and heart attacks.

There was no premeditation, added Mr Kennon.

Magistrates imposed a £40 fine, with a £30 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs. They did not award compensation.