A MAN has admitted to drunkenly inflicting grievous bodily harm on a reveller outside an East Devon nightclub.

A MAN has admitted to drunkenly inflicting grievous bodily harm on a reveller outside an East Devon nightclub.

Ashley Legg, 20, pleaded guilty to the charge before magistrates sitting in Exeter last Tuesday.

Prosecutor David Barnes told the court how Legg, who lives in Bridport, Dorset, threw a single punch at Robert Jefferies as he argued with his friend outside The Grove, in Seaton, on June 21.

Mr Jefferies suffered a fractured skull and bruised brain after hitting his head on a pavement when he fell to the ground. He also suffered a gash to his cheek and the inside of his mouth.

Magistrates were told how witnesses heard Mr Jefferies' head hit the ground as Legg fled the scene.

Mr Jefferies was unconscious for five to ten minutes and said in a statement he had not fully recovered until a month after the incident. Legg, who was described as a "model citizen" by his aquatic landscaping employer, was "going through a hard time" because his parents were splitting up, and was traumatised from an assault he suffered outside The Grove two weeks earlier, his defence solicitor argued.

The court was told Legg came home from work that day to find his father had defaced photographs of his mother with tape.

His friends had decided to "rally round" him and went out drinking.

Legg's solicitor said he doesn't remember what caused him to hit the victim, only the altercation in front of him was getting "heated", and looked as though it was about to "kick off."

Legg contacted police when he heard officers were investigating the incident. He will be sentenced in the New Year.