A LORRY driver on a 48 hour break in Cornwall assaulted a pub landlady when she broke up a fight between him and another man.

Blackburn magistrates heard Paul Anthony Stanhope had been abusive towards a bar maid and her boyfriend took exception.

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Stanhope, 33, of Abraham Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting Sharon Bell in St Austell in June. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said while he was in the pub Stanhope was asking were he could buy weed or if anyone could sell him some ‘magic powder’.

“He abused the bar maid and ended up fighting with her fiancee,” said Miss Allan.

“When the landlady intervened he punched her in the face.”

Colleen Dickinson-Jones, defending, said Stanhope had originally been charged with affray but that had been reduced to assault when he appeared before Truro magistrates.

“He says he was punched in the face and then there was a general melee,” said Mrs Dickinson-Jones.

“He is adamant he doesn’t take drugs and that he didn’t ask for any on this evening.”