A FORMER junior national motorcycling champion, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, has been jailed for four months after an attack on a pub landlord left him requiring emergency eye surgery.

Matthew Hartley, now 21, has to take a cocktail of more than 30 tablets on a daily basis, as a result of the condition, which restricts his breathing, but still had a drinking problem, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Before he was 15, he had been crowned British Mini Moto Champion and feted by Blackburn superbike legend Carl Fogarty as a "very brave kid".

He ended up in the dock after launching an attack on publican Mark Jones outside the Bay Horse, in Worsthorne in the early hours, the court heard, as he tried to intervene in an altercation between Hartley and his girlfriend.

The former Todmorden High student, of Langfield, Worsthorne, admitted assaulting Mr Jones, who had already thrown him out of the pub after a stand-off with another customer.

The court heard that Hartley was outside and was involved in a quarrel with his girlfriend, which saw her shoved to the ground.

In an attempt to calm the situation down, Mr Jones stepped between the pair but was punched by the boyfriend.

And while the licensee’s attention was turned towards his girlfriend, Hartley hit him again, causing a blood vessel to burst behind the victim’s eye. Later he had to undergo emergency laser surgery at the Royal Blackburn Hospital to repair the damage.

Jailing him, Recorder Andrew McLoughlin said: “Clearly consuming copious amounts of alcohol when the defendant is on significant amounts of medication would, on the face of it, appear to be very unwise.”

Mr Recorder McLoughlin said that Hartley had already been given a court supervision order for another assault, just five months earlierbefore the attack on the publican.

Defence counsel Philip Holden said Hartley had been told that his life expectancy may be affected by his condition and that appeared to have affected his mental state. He also suffered from complications with diabetes, relating to cystic fibrosis.

He told the court: “I don’t put this forward by way of an excuse for what he has done but rather an explanation. The hospital treating him has been made aware of his issues with alcohol and anger management, and have made an appointment for him to see a psychologist.”

Mr Holden told the court that there had been problems previously between his client and the landlord, who was no longer working at the pub.

The motorcycling enthusiast was featured in the Lancashire Telegraph aged 15 when he participated in a support race for the international Moto GP championship at Donington, which included Hartley’s hero Valentino Rossi.