A man who knocked a woman out after attacking her in an Aberystwyth pub has been branded a 'coward' by a judge who sent him to jail.

Stafford Jones, 30, of Lon Maesycoed, Newtown, was sentenced to 22 months in prison at Swansea Crown Court after admitting a charge of unlawful wounding.

The incident occurred at Bar 46 on Bridge Street in Aberystwyth on 14 July 2023 and was caught on the pub’s CCTV.

David Singh, prosecuting, said it was clear from CCTV evidence that there had been some form of "disagreement" between Jones and a woman prior to the incident, with the woman "pointing and making contact with the defendant".

He said Jones responded by hitting the woman to the face with his forearm or elbow - it was not clear which - delivering a powerful blow which sent the woman crashing to the floor and caused her to lose consciousness.

The court heard the woman, Emily Renshaw, was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea with a laceration to her lip which required stitching, and bruising and swelling to her face.

The court was told the victim has ‘no real recollection’ of the incident.

Meanwhile Jones had left the bar and was arrested a month later in Liverpool.

In his police interview Jones said he did not know the complainant and claimed she had approached him in a bar "shouting abuse" and was "aggressive and irate".

He said the woman had threated to get her cousin "on him", and then pushed him. Jones accepted his reaction to being pushed had been "excessive" and he said he was remorseful.

Jones has 14 previous convictions for 18 offences including violent disorder, drugs matters, breach of a restraining order, and multiple assaults by beating.

Alycia Carpanini, for Jones, said the defendant was adamant there had been "an element of provocation" in the incident but understands he should not have reacted in the way he did, and she said in their conference her client had used "colourful language which I will not repeat in court" to express that he had been an "idiot".

The barrister said Jones has two young daughters and "understands that, at the moment, he is not a good role model for them."

Judge Huw Rees described Jones as a "strapping young man" who had delivered a powerful blow with his forearm or elbow to the face of his victim which had knocked her out.

He noted the defendant had described himself as an "idiot" but said a better word would be "coward".

The judge asked Jones to consider how he would feel if, in a few years time, someone did to his daughters in a bar what he had done to the woman in Aberystwyth.

Judge Rees said Jones had a "very unimpressive list of convictions for offences involving violence and drugs" and said he had considered whether he should make the defendant the subject of an extended sentence, but said "not without some misgivings" he had decided to step back from that course of action.