A drunken pub brawler has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after smashing a man’s eye socket in a takeaway – the third serious injury he had inflicted while out at night in Keighley town centre.

Paul O’Reilly, 25, was one of a group of intoxicated yobs that set upon Michael Gaughan who was celebrating his birthday in the early hours of Christmas Day, 2010, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Mr Gaughan was off work for two months after the “loud and raucous” group punched and kicked him in the Y2k takeaway in Church Street, prosecutor David Ward said yesterday.

Mr Ward said O’Reilly, of North Dean Avenue, Braithwaite, Keighley, punched Mr Gaughan once in the face. Others attacked him as he lay on the ground.

O’Reilly pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and to aggravated vehicle taking, on February 13 last year, while on bail. He crashed a van in Keighley town centre while almost twice the drink-drive limit.

In 2006, O’Reilly was locked up for two years for biting off part of a man’s ear in the town’s K2 nightclub.

A month after he was freed from custody, O’Reilly broke a pub manager’s jaw and was sent back to jail for two years.

He was referred to surgeons at Bradford Royal Infirmary and a metal plate was inserted in his jaw and three teeth removed.

O’Reilly pleaded guilty to causing him grievous bodily harm.

Yesterday, his barrister John Oultram said drink was at the root of his problems. He was capable of causing serious injury with one blow when drunk. He was otherwise kind and caring.

O’Reilly was banned from driving for two-and-a-half years.

* Full report in today's T&A.