A 26-YEAR-OLD man was branded “a drunken thug” by a judge after he watched CCTV footage of a woman being punched in the face outside a city centre nightclub a year ago.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that Dylan Devanney, who had no previous convictions, was full of shame and remorse for assaulting the woman outside Club Candy in Sackville Street during the early hours of November 3.

The video clip showed Devanney, of Elm Tree Gardens, Odsal, Bradford, running off down the street after punching the woman hard in the face and knocking her to the ground.

Prosecutor Phillip Adams told the court that Devanney had been making a nuisance of himself inside the club and after the complainant intervened there was some pushing and shoving between them.

He said while the woman was stood outside rolling a cigarette Devanney punched her in the face and immediately ran off.

Mr Adams described it as a forceful punch which knocked out the woman’s two front teeth.

The court heard the victim was taken to hospital where the teeth were secured back in place, but Mr Adams said he had no update on the complainant’s present condition.

Devanney pleaded guilty to the assault charge and Judge Jonathan Rose described him as a brute and “a drunken thug”.

“The man I’ve read about in the pre-sentence report is a completely different person to the one that I have seen on this screen,” the judge told Devanney.

“When you punch that hard into someone’s face the head is snapped back and the courts are frequently dealing one-punch killing cases. You can kill a person with one punch very easily.

“There is a kerb on the pavement of the road. If she had struck her head on that you could have been facing a very different charge. You could have been facing a murder charge.”

Judge Rose said there had to be a prison sentence but the eight-month jail term could be suspended for two years.

Devanney will also have to do 200 hours unpaid work and pay his victim £1000 compensation in the next six months.