A STUDENT who knocked a man out during an attack in a Worcester nightclub has been convicted by a jury after they disbelieved his claim he acted in ‘self-defence.’

Jake Toriyen was unanimously convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday following the assault at Alexander’s in New Street.

The 21-year-old of Henwick Road, St John’s, Worcester, had denied the assault, claiming he had acted in self-defence and telling a consultant psychiatrist he had been ‘intimidated’ by his victim, Paul Monnes, after the victim bumped into him three times before the attack on March 17 last year.

But during the trial, which began on Monday, the jury saw CCTV footage of the attack in the crowded nightclub.

Toriyen can be seen throwing punches at Mr Monnes before knocking him out with an uppercut.

Andrew Davidson, prosecuting, talked the jury through the footage, telling them the victim had no memory of the attack. He later told officers: “My jaw and cheek was hurting and I felt it was hanging off.”

Mr Davidson said: “He (Mr Monnes) bumps into the defendant, maybe on more than one occasion. We say that this defendant takes exception to that. He launched into an attack on him, punching the back of his head and to the face - three quick punches in quick succession, a short pause, and then one slower uppercut that rendered Mr Monnes unconscious on the floor.”

“Mr Monnes managed to get his feet and leave the premises but was later conveyed by taxi to the hospital.”

The jury was also shown photos of Mr Monnes’s injuries. He suffered swelling to the right hand side of his face, other bruises and abrasions and needed treatment on a wisdom tooth that had become twisted and pushed into the gum. Toriyen left immediately after the incident.

As a precaution Mr Monnes had to be immobilised on a spinal board.

During the trial Toriyen told a jury he suffered PTSD after an assault when he was 11 years old. He told a jury he did not act out of anger but added: “There was fear.”

Tony Elliott, a consultant psychiatrist, said Toriyen had decided to withdraw himself from anti-depressant Sertraline and had multiple self-harm scars on his arm, caused by a knife or razor. The professor said Toriyen, who has emotionally unstable personality traits, had told him he felt ‘fearful and under threat’ before the attack took place.

He added: “Mr Toriyen expressed significant remorse about what had taken place and said that he felt extremely sorry for the complainant. To use his phrase he said he felt ‘horrible’ that this had happened.”

Toriyen was arrested at the University of Worcester campus at 9.20am on March 27, answering ‘no comment’ to police questions in interview.

The case was adjourned until January 18 next year for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service.