A THUG who kicked a girl as she lay on the ground outside a nightclub has been locked up for 20 months.

Karl Dearn, 23, carried out two unrelated violent assaults in Darwen on October 11 and October 31 last year.

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Dearn, of Snape Street, Darwen, had pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm at Preston Crown Court.

In the first incident, he punched his 17-year-old female victim in the face during an altercation at Level One nightclub, in Market Street, the court heard.

She suffered a fractured jaw after Dearn continued to kick her while she lay on the ground outside after she attempted to intervene in a fight between the defendant and someone else inside the venue, prosecutors said.

In the second incident he was involved in, Dearn and two others were walking along Hindle Street, Darwen, on their way to a Hallowe’en party when Dearn launched an “unprovoked attack” on a male passer-by.

The CPS said Dearn kicked, punched and kneed the victim in the face. Dearn was arrested in November 2014 and charged in February 2015, before pleading guilty at a plea and case management hearing in May.

A family member of one of Dearn’s victims said: “We are happy that Karl Dearn has been jailed even though we would have liked it to be longer.

“Due to the nature of the crimes and the huge impact it has had, I am glad the judge saw fit to remove him from society as his punishment.

“To punch a girl in the face and to continue kicking her when she was helpless on the floor is unforgivable.

“Karl Dearn used his Facebook account to continue harassment which can be seen to this day on his page.

“Karl Dearn has shown no remorse for his actions.

“The fact was Karl was already assaulting one person when he attacked the girl is despicable enough and then to learn about another unprovoked attack he was involved in a couple of weeks later was shocking.”