A POWYS man landed punches that left his victim with a fractured skull outside a Newtown hotel and led to an air ambulance being called last summer.

Kenneth Jones, 21 and from Knighton, pleaded guilty to inflicting malicious grievous bodily harm on Jamie Selvey outside the Bell Hotel in Commercial Street, Newtown, on June 9 last year.

But Jones is on trial at Mold Crown Court as he denies causing actual bodily harm against Jonathan Dace, the victim’s brother, on the same day.

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A jury was told on Wednesday, January 24, that while Jones had admitted the offence against Mr Selvey, he denied biting the ear of Mr Dace.

Prosecuting barrister Simon Rogers told the jury of eight women and four men that on the day of the incident, Mr Dace and his brother had been drinking in Newtown to celebrate them both receiving full-time work.

He said that both returned to the Bell Hotel leading to the incident that left Mr Selvey with a fractured skull and eye socket, with the jury shown CCTV footage of the incident.

But he added that the incident between Jones and Mr Dace was not seen by CCTV cameras.

Mr Dace gave evidence to the court to say that after Jones had punched his brother, he wanted to confront him to find out why.

He said he was punched on the nose "out of the blue" by Jones and added that he had been left with scarring from the alleged bite.

However, under cross-examination from defending barrister Philip Clemo, Mr Dace admitted he had struggled to recall much of the incident, other than that he tried to confront the defendant.

He denied the defence’s argument that he was drunk and that he and his brother had pestered Jones for cocaine, knowing he was a recovering addict.

And he further denied verbally abusing Jones with his brother but admitted he could not recall whether Jones had tried to help Mr Selvey when he was on the floor.

Mr Dace also denied that his ear injuries came from an earring, saying they were the result of a scuffle with Jones that was broken up by witnesses Ben Whitehead and Ryan Duggan.

He said: “I didn’t have an earring and he bit my ear.”

Mr Clemo then went onto highlight Mr Dace’s previous convictions for being drunk and disorderly, as recently as January 2023. He denied being drunk on that day.

Mr Whitehead also gave evidence and said that Jones had been harassed by Mr Selvey who was "screaming for drugs" but eventually threw two punches that left him seriously injured.

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The witness, who was a Bell Hotel resident, said Jones was "a good friend" who knew he had hurt Mr Selvey and was trying to help him "when he saw blood coming out of his head".

Mr Whitehead told the court he saw Mr Dace throw punches at Jones, who did not have a black eye prior to the incident, which was seen in pictures when he was arrested.

Jones’ police interview was also read to the court – the trial continues.