A WHITEHAVEN man has been warned that he is facing a possible jail sentence after he admitted assaulting an off-duty special constable.

Paul Savage, 30, who denied assaulting an emergency worker, had his guilty plea to the alternative charge of a simple common assault accepted after the court heard that the victim had consumed seven pints.

It happened on March 20 in Whitehaven, Carlisle Crown Court heard. The defendant accepted he should not have responded as he had to when the victim challenged him.

The violence flared up in a pub after the off-duty officer suggested there were drugs present, though that did not involve Savage, the court heard. The defendant accepted punching the victim.

Adjourning the case until June 6 so that a background report can be prepared, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson told the defendant, of College View, Whitehaven: “Mr Savage, you have pleaded today to the alternative charge of common assault.

“It’s a serious offence, all the more so when one considers your previous convictions for a number of assaults you have committed…. Be under no illusion: all options are open because of the serious nature of the offence.”

The judge spelled out that he has not ruled out custody. He granted Savage unconditional bail until the day of sentence.