A MAN who caused brain damage to a man he punched outside his father’s bar in Weston has admitted causing grievous bodily harm.

The single punch delivered by Christopher Coumis after he was taunted about his weight left Mark Pitcher with substantial damage to his brain.

At Bristol Crown Court on April 4 Coumis admitted the charge of GBH relating to the incident outside Raddy’s Bar, which is owned by his father Paul.

A group of people, Mr Pitcher among them, had travelled to Weston from Dursley in Gloucestershire on October 15 and had gone to the bar in Beach Road.

But as there was a private function on, they were told by security staff that they could not go in.

Coumis had been standing at the bar’s door when the group approached, and Mr Pitcher made offensive remarks about his weight as they made to leave.

This led the 20-year-old to approach him and punch him once, causing him to collapse and crack his head on the pavement.

He was taken to Weston General Hospital before being transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, where staff in the neurological surgery specialist unit immediately operated on him.

He was put into an induced coma for nine days after the incident while a drain was put in his skull to counter swelling on his brain.

After 24 days he was discharged from Frenchay, but he has trouble walking and has suffered attention, language and memory damage as a result of the injury.

Coumis, of Worlebury Park Road, had pleaded guilty to the charge at the earliest possible chance, which Judge Carol Hagen took into account when sentencing.

At the hearing on April 4 she handed him a community order including a requirement to carry out 300 hours’ unpaid community work and pay �500 in court costs.