A HEREFORD man banned from every bar and licensed restaurant in Britain for fighting says his punishment is “a punch in the guts”.

Stephen Atkinson will miss a family wedding and cannot watch his beloved Aston Villa after assaulting a man in the garden of a city pub.

Hereford Crown Court made Atkinson the subject of a “prohibitive activity requirement”, which prevents him from going anywhere alcohol is served to be consumed on the premises over the next 12 months.

Atkinson, aged 23, admitted one charge of assault causing actual bodily harm and received a four-month suspended prison term.

He was also ordered to attend an offending behaviour programme, pay £500 in fines and compensation, and complete 150 hours of community work.

The court heard how Atkinson, of Westholme Road, Belmont, repeatedly punched a man in the face after a “disagreement”

at Bar Spirit in June.

Unemployed Atkinson apologised to his victim almost immediately after the attack in Gaol Street, the court heard.

Simon Rippon, defending, said that , when drinking, Atkinson could become “violently involved” in things that did not involve him.

Recorder David Chinery noted the role of alcohol in Atkinson’s offending before he imposed the 12-month banning order.

Speaking after the case, Atkinson accepted that what he did was wrong, but thought the banning order was particularly harsh.

“With my record I expected to be sent down, but with this banning order, they may as well have locked me up.

“I’m banned from everywhere in Great Britain so I can’t even go to family parties or wakes at funerals – it’s like a punch in the guts,” he said.

The ban effectively stops Atkinson from going to his cousin’s wedding next summer and means he cannot watch Villa because there are bars inside the ground.

Atkinson told the Hereford Times he would get through his ban on “beers from Tesco” and watching X-Factor.