A 28-year-old man involved in a fight outside a pub claimed remarks had been made about his former partner.

Patrick Kavanagh, of Foxhill Close, Enniskillen, was arrested after he was seen striking a man about the head, leaving him bleeding about the face.

He appeared at Fermanagh Court and admitted being disorderly at High Street in Enniskillen.

He was due to be released from prison last Thursday, having served a sentence for a previous offence.

District Judge Nigel Broderick read a report by a probation officer and said: “There does appear to be some glimmer of hope outlined in the report.” He noted that Kavanagh was in breach of a suspended prison sentence and said that “with some hesitation” he would adjourn sentencing him for six months, until October 6.

The District Judge said he was doing so on the understanding Kavanagh commits no further offences and has no contact with the injured party.

He said “most importantly” Kavanagh is not to be intoxicated in a public place.

“In my view alcohol was the main contributing factor in this offence,” he stated.

He warned him that if he breaches those conditions the suspended prison sentence will be activated.

The District Judge had heard how, at approximately 1.10am on Sunday, February 2, police on public order duty saw a disturbance outside the Crowe’s Nest at High Street in Enniskillen. They saw Kavanagh striking a man twice about the head. He struck the man again, this time so forcefully that he knocked him back against the shutters of a shop. The man was bleeding about the face but he did not make a complaint to the police.

Kavanagh was arrested and when interviewed admitted striking the man three times after he had made comments about his ex-partner and swung for him.

Defence solicitor Gary Smyth said there had been no further difficulty between the men.

He told the court Kavanagh’s partner is due to give birth before the end of the summer and he wishes to play an active parenting role when the baby arrives. She has been in hospital on a number of occasions in relation to the pregnancy and he had been unable to offer support while he was in prison. He has attended anger management sessions on a weekly basis in the prison.

Mr. Smyth suggested that sentencing be deferred “to put him to the test as to whether he really has changed his ways”.