A COMPANY director punched a man unconscious in a brawl at an Elvis Presley tribute night, a court has heard.

Paul Digby, 57, is said to have left Garry Drew needing hospital treatment following the altercation in the bar area at Lighthouse in Poole.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard a scuffle erupted after Digby’s wife Susan Digby claimed she caught Mr Drew’s wife Paula looking at her across the bar.

Mrs Digby, 53, shouted out “what are you looking at, f****** pikey scum?”, the jury was told.

She and her 21-year-old daughter Celi Digby and her boyfriend Kyle Flowers, 20, then “aggressively” moved towards Mrs Drew and her two friends Hayley White and Joanna Stubbs, it is alleged.

The court heard it all “kicked off” between the two parties with Mr Drew, 58, being knocked to the ground.

Prosecutor David Jenkins said at that moment Digby punched Mr Drew “many times” while he was on the floor, knocking him unconscious.

He had to be dragged away by his wife and Mrs Stubbs’s husband Scott.

He suffered lacerations to his scalp, cuts to his forehead and mouth and a bloody nose. His injuries required treatment and he was taken to Poole Hospital.

Digby, who runs his own building firm, is on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court where he is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The incident happened at the end of a performance by Elvis Presley tribute act Shawn Klush and his ‘Elvis World Tour’ in May 2018, which was attended by both parties.

As Mrs Drew chatted with her friends in the bar area they became distracted by a commotion at the other end of the bar where the Digbys were also drinking.

Giving evidence, Mr Drew, who runs his own garage, said he could not remember the attack due to being knocked unconscious.

But he said: “The shouting started from the right hand corner and there were racist remarks being shouted out.

“Someone said ‘what are you looking at, f****** pikey scum?’ It was abuse shouted towards my wife, Hayley and Joanna.

“Then the two females came up to Hayley, shouting at her and calling her names.”

He added: “I was either thrown or fell to the floor but I was knocked unconscious.

“I am 99 per cent sure I became conscious again for a few seconds and saw someone on top of me, looking down at me and then I went unconscious again.

“All I can remember is it was the face of a bald headed man.”

Mrs Drew, 53, said: “It all just kicked off and I saw Garry on the floor.

“There was a lot of arms being raised and a lot of shouting and raised voices.

“Me and Scott got Garry from the floor and dragged him away.”

“It felt like forever but I would imagine it was just a couple of minutes, if that.”

Mr Jenkins said: “The defendant positioned himself over Mr Drew and punched him to the face many times, thereby assaulting him.

“Mr Drew suffered several injuries. He had superficial cuts to the scalp, also known as lacerations, clotted cuts to his forehead, a bloody nose and scab cuts to the mouth.

“He (Mr Digby) was not acting in lawful self-defence or in defence of another.

“You can use force to defend yourself or another but the force must be reasonable.”

Digby, from Lytchett Minster, Dorset, denies the charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.