A MAN has been jailed for a year after a judge heard how a weekend break at a Pwllheli holiday park ended in violence.

Christopher Balmer, 28, of Ledbury Street, Leigh, pleaded guilty at Caernarfon Crown Court to wounding a fellow holidaymaker at Hafan y Môr park, near Pwllheli, and common assault on the man’s seven-year-old daughter, who had a split lip.

It happened last May after the victim had been offered a ride back to his caravan from a pizza takeaway by Balmer. He then realised that Balmer had been drinking and after the car had stopped there was an argument.

Karl Scholz, prosecuting on Monday, said the defendant had punched the man to the face, they started grappling, then the victim fell to the ground awkwardly, the defendant continuing to punch him. When the little girl tried to intervene she was either punched or slapped.

The victim had two fractures to his leg and stated he’d been unable to continue his work as a roofer, losing £12,000 income.

Dafydd Roberts, defending, described them as “two reckless assaults”. He said the complainant had also been drinking that night.

Balmer was a family man with a good work ethic, earning £350 a week, and Mr Roberts urged a suspended sentence so he could pay substantial compensation.

Jailing Balmer, Judge Niclas Parry said: “This was a shocking attack on complete strangers.”

He added: “It involved an attack on a father in the presence of his seven-year-old daughter.

She would have witnessed her father being punched to the face in the early hours of the morning then she saw him in agony on the floor because he broke his leg.”

The judge said the attack had been simply because it had been realised that Balmer was drinking from a can while he was driving.

In addition to the prison sentence Balmer was banned from driving for a year after he admitted failing to provide a sample of his breath at the police station. A roadside breath sample was 76 – more than twice the permitted level of 35mg.