AN East Lancashire litigation manager who left a father bleeding from the head after throwing a bottle at him following a dispute in a bar has been jailed.

Preston Crown Court heard how 57-year-old victim David Leniewski was in the Bull and Royal in Preston with work colleagues and his daughter when they were interrupted by 25-year-old defendant Saul Oyefeso.

Prosecuting, David Clarke said the group asked him to leave but Oyefeso, who had overheard them talking about the child support agency, began trying to offer them legal advice.

When Oyefeso’s tone began to change, Mr Leniewski told him to leave in no uncertain terms, but the defendant returned with a small amount of powder on a coin and offered it to them.

At that stage Mr Leniewski and his group decided to leave the Church Street venue slightly after 8.30pm on August 9, 2018, and headed in the direction of Manchester Road.

Mr Clarke said that slightly ahead of his group, Mr Leniewski turned back to see his daughter involved in an altercation with Oyefeso, who had followed them out of the pub.

Returning to his group, Mr Leniewski said he accepted he tried to be verbally assertive to Oyefeso, who Mr Clarke said: “was making noises as if he was imitating an animal.”

Oyefeso then threw a bottle at Mr Leniewski, which missed him but smashed the window of Sando's takeaway. Noticing the defendant had dropped his mobile phone, Mr Leniewski picked it up.

As he was bending down he felt a blow to the back of his head and realised the defendant had thrown a glass at him.

Mr Clarke said a quick-thinking Mr Leniewski then kept hold of the phone, assuming Oyefeso wouldn’t leave the scene without it and police would be able to arrest him there and then.

However, Oyefeso did leave the area after being chased off by angry revellers.

When police did arrive at the scene, Mr Leniewski handed the phone over to them and a number of calls came in from a woman named Becky, who confirmed who the handset belonged to.

Oyefeso was arrested, and in police interview said although at first there had been no problem in the pub he believed for some reason Mr Leniewski had a problem with him. He believed something had been said in his direction, which caused his to follow the group into the street, and he threw the bottle to scare the victim.

Oyefeso, of Nuttall Street, Accrington, who has 14 convictions for 19 offences, said he threw the glass to prevent his phone being stolen. He pleaded guilty to GBH and criminal damage.

Defending, Ian McMeekin said his client had been abused as a child, which left him unable to control his temper. He said Oyefeso had now turned his life around and was thriving at a commercial law firm.

He said: “Things have moved on since the commission of these offences. He has a child who is nearly 12 months old. His partner Rebecca Sanderson attests to the change she has seen in the character of this individual.

“He accepts what he has done is abhorrent and he accepted that in interview. He has expressed remorse for this appalling behaviour.”

Judge David Potter jailed Oyefeso for 16 months.