AN ATTACKER knocked a woman unconscious after drinking 18 pints of lager at a wake in Hereford.

Nigel Mosinski admitted assault causing actual bodily harm when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Emergency crews were called after a heated row broke out between two groups of people in Hereford's Commercial Road at 3am on June 25, prosecutor Eleanor Peart said.

The row turned physical, with people being pushed, grabbed, and scratched, and Mosinski punched a woman in the head.

"It was deliberate and aggressive and she fell to the floor unconscious," Miss Peart said.

"He then ran away saying he did not realise she was a girl and that it was the worst thing he had ever done."

The victim was left with a swollen face and a bleeding ear.

In police interview, Mosinski admitted he had thrown the punch and that he had been intoxicated. He said he had drunk 18 pints of lager that day and that he was sorry for his actions.

In a statement, the victim said she had come to in the back of an ambulance with pain in the side of her head, and that her hearing had been affected.

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Edmund Middleton, for Mosinski, said the 30-year-old had made an awful mistake.

"He had been at his aunt's funeral that morning, and the wake continued through the rest of the day," Mr Middleton said.

He had also split up with his partner earlier in the year, but was still sharing a home with them, Mr Middleton said.

"None of the background as to why he felt it necessary to drink as much as he did is put forward as an excuse, but does provide some context."

Mr Middleton said Mosinski had wept in police interview, unable to comprehend what he had done, and has sought help from a counsellor and stopped drinking since.

"He tells me his behaviour made him feel like a monster," Mr Middleton said.

Mosinski, of Peterchurch, Herefordshire, was handed a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work and must pay compensation of £250. He must also pay costs of £185 and a £114 victim surcharge.