A MAN was assaulted in an Accrington pub in a case of mistaken identity.

Blackburn magistrates heard Graham Soloniewicz punched his victim twice in the face after wrongly identifying him as the person who had jostled him.

And the court was told Soloniewicz accepted he had overreacted.

Soloniewicz, 30, of Avenue Parade, Accrington, pleaded guilty to assaulting 22-year-old Joe Hill. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Eddie Harrison, prosecuting, said Mr Hill had been out with friends and was in a town centre pub beer garden.

Soloniewicz, who he knew by sight, walked up to him and, without warning, punched him twice in the face.

Mr Harrison said: “He was left with a blooded lip and a black eye.”

Gareth Price, defending, said following the breakdown of a relationship, his client had been without work for 10 months.

He said: “He has spiralled into depression and been drinking more than is good for him. He realises his reaction was not proportionate to what had gone on and there was some kind of mistaken identity.”