A MAN knocked another man out with a single punch in a Worcester fast-food restaurant after he called him a ‘paedo’.

Dominic Pearce knocked Adam James unconscious with one punch while his victim sat with a friend at Chicks, the Cross, Worcester, during the attack, which was captured on CCTV. Pearce later broke the finger of Christopher Andrews, a door supervisor at Chicks, during the aftermath of the incident which happened at around 2.30am on February 19.

The 45-year-old, of Kenwood Avenue, off Tolladine Road, Worcester, admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared before magistrates in Worcester. The CCTV showed Pearce landing the first punch, knocking Mr James’ head against the wall and then attempting to land three further blows, one of which connected with the victim’s shoulder, while he was out cold. Mr James then slumped off the chair and onto the floor, unconscious.

Matt Dodson, prosecuting, said Pearce had been talking to a friend of his son, whom he met by chance at the counter of Chicks, when Mr James walked in and sat down at a nearby table.

“The injured party is knocked out instantly from the first punch,” said Mr Dodson.

Pearce said in his statement that he heard Mr James say paedo and we will get you outside.

Mr Dodson said: “He said the comments made by the defendant didn’t justify his own actions. He agreed there didn’t appear to be much build up to the assault. He had no idea that the victim was knocked unconscious. He said: ‘I am full of remorse and regret – I hope he’s okay’.”

Apart from being knocked unconscious, Mr James suffered a chipped tooth and needed five stitches to the back of his head.

The Chicks door supervisor said one of his fingers was misshapen after they were bent back during the struggle with Pearce and one was broken and required a splint.

Judith Kenney, defending, said that no medical evidence had been produced to prove that the door supervisor at Chicks had a broken finger and that Pearce, a divorced father, had no previous history of offending.

She said: “Mr James uttered the criticism that he was a paedophile, which to him was one of the worst things you could say about anyone which was unwarranted and unexpected. “He had been staring at them for some considerable time. It’s the first blow that does the devastating work.”

She said that only two of the four blows, including the one that knocked Mr James unconscious, connected.

“No doubt he would wish to turn the clock back. There’s a lack of pre-meditation. It’s instinctive,” said Mrs Kenney.

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report ahead of sentencing at Worcester Crown Court on June 8.