A LLANYBYDDER man was “going mad” during an attack that left another man unconscious and with a broken nose.

Paul Elias Hands, of Bro Einon, punched a member of staff at a Lampeter pub after he was caught stealing alcohol from the cellar before attacking a member of the public who intervened.

Hands, who pleaded guilty to burglary, assaulting Royal Oak staff member Arwel Godfrey and causing actual bodily harm to Christian Jones on 30 July, will now be sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after magistrates ruled the case was too serious for them to deal with.

Prosecutor Rhian Jones said the incident was sparked when Hands was caught trying to steal VK alcopops from the cellar of the Royal Oak.

She said that staff had noticed that the cellar door had been locked from the inside after Hands was seen standing by the door.

When Mr Godfrey went to a cellar hatch on the street he saw Hands, 25, moving crates onto the pavement. He was confronted by Mr Godfrey, but Ms Jones said Hands tried to leave while carrying one of the crates which ended up being dropped and bottles being smashed.

Checks in the cellar showed that bottles from another crate had also been smashed.

Mr Godfrey locked the pub’s front door to stop Hands getting back in, but he then banged on the door and tried to push his way in before trying to goad Mr Godfrey to go outside.

During the exchange, Hands was seen by a witness punching Mr Godfrey in the face four times.

Mr Jones, a member of the public, then tried to intervene, but when he took hold of Hands, the pair of them fell to the floor before Hands grabbed hold of Mr Jones’s head with Mr Jones punching Hands to try and get him off.

However, Hands was said by a witness to be “going mad” and started punching Mr Jones, with Ms Jones saying he was also said to have kicked Mr Jones while he was on the floor.

Mr Jones told police that he had lost consciousness during the attack and had suffered a broken nose and needed to have fluid drained from his nose after suffering pain and swelling.

Hands told police that the attempt to steal the alcohol had been “drunken antics” but couldn’t remember assaulting Mr Godfrey, although said he did remember there was an incident with Mr Jones.

Defence solicitor Iestyn Davies said the “whole incident was an aberration”, with Hands at the time struggling after the loss of two close family members.

Mr Davies said Hands, who has never been in trouble before, was “very very sorry” for the incident.

Releasing Hands on unconditional bail until a hearing at Swansea Crown Court on 23 February, presiding magistrate Huw Williams said the incident saw a “sustained attack on a defenceless victim”.