POLICE have released CCTV of a man being thrown down a flight of stairs in a bar, breaking his back, after his Bradford attacker was finally brought to justice and jailed.

Bradley Aspin, 21, thanked detectives for their dedication in catching Jermaine Allen, 30, who had travelled from West Yorkshire for a night out in Newcastle city centre.

Mr Aspin suffered the serious injuries after he and Allen got into an argument in the House of Smith bar in September 2017.

CCTV footage showed Allen, who was out with a group of friends, throw Mr Aspin down the stairs, leaving him in a heap at the bottom.

While Allen partied on, Mr Aspin was taken to hospital, having broken his back in two places.

Police arrived at the bar but Allen managed to escape after lashing out at officers and his associates intervened in his arrest, Northumbria Police said.

A lengthy investigation began, with police trying to identify the thug and only knowing that he was believed to be from Bradford.

Officers spoke to witnesses, trawled through CCTV and made inquiries at local hotels before they tracked down and arrested Allen, of Brindle Close, Bradford, in January 2018.

A jury convicted him of grievous bodily harm following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court and last week he was jailed for four years and six months, the force said.

After the case, Mr Aspin thanked police and said his injuries have had a major impact on his life, stopping him from going to the gym and playing football.

The customer services worker, from the Cleveland area, was knocked unconscious in the fall and had to wear a brace for five months afterwards.

He said: "It has massively, massively changed my life because now I have to be careful what I'm doing.

"I am always looking over my shoulder and I don't go out drinking as much as I did because I don't want that to happen again."

Sergeant Andy Percival, of the Newcastle City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "You can clearly see on the CCTV that Allen struck his victim multiple times before forcing him down the stairs and he knew that his actions would cause serious injury."