A FARM worker has been ordered to pay £3,000 to replace a woman’s tooth he knocked out while a late-night fight was going on in Worcester city centre.

Arkadiusz Zuchowski, of Temple Laugherne Farm, Oldbury Road, Worcester, escaped an immediate jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm..

Judge John Cavell told him he would have to pay £200 a month for a dental implant after he punched the woman with one “powerful blow” in the face, knocking out a bottom tooth and pushing back two others. Charles Hardy, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court that the victim, Laura Bernotaviciute, a Lithuanian, had been out for the night in the city in September last year.

She went to Shakeey’s fast food diner in Angel Street, Worcester, and was sitting with friends at about 2am when there was a disturbance and comments were made about Poles and Lithuanians.

She saw Zuchowski and went up to him and told him they should leave.

He went calmly outside with her when they heard screaming and saw that a fight appeared to have broken out nearby in the area outside Tramps. She walked away, but without warning, Zuchowski swung back his arm and punched her once in the face, Mr Hardy said.

She fell to her knees and spat out a tooth. Her mouth was bleeding and she had scars on her chin.

Zuchowski ran off and was caught by police. Zuchowski, who was in court with a Polish interpreter, initially said that the “Russian woman” had hit him but later admitted the offence. Miss Bernotaviciute had been quoted between £3,000 and £4,000 for a dental implant after being told her tooth had been permanently knocked out.

In a victim statement, she said she had to take two weeks off work and was now wary of going out at night. She also had trouble eating.

Jason Aris, defending, said Zuchowski was a hard working farm labourer and tractor driver who had between £40 and £50 spare cash each week. He handed in references to the court and said Zuchowski had not intended to hit Miss Bernotaviciute. He had shown genuine remorse. Judge Cavell told Zuchowski that he should have known that if he got involved in violence after he had been drinking and struck out in the course of a fight he was likely to cause injury.

He gave him a sentence of 16 weeks suspended for 18 months with 200 hours of unpaid community work within 12 months.