A HUDDERSFIELD man has appeared in court charged with assaulting a co-worker after their company Christmas party.

Paul Thornton, of Gisbourne Road, Bradley, stood trial yesterday at Leeds Crown Court charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his workmate Terry Mack as their company West Yorkshire Windows celebrated Christmas with a night out in Wakefield two years ago.

Mr Mack was left with severe facial injuries after the alleged attack.

Thornton, 42, is also accused of intimidating witness Mark Weathers, another worker for the company, based on Denby Dale Road, into not giving evidence against him at his trial.

Thornton, a builder for the company, denies both charges.

Opening the case for the Crown, prosecutor Nigel Wray said that on December 23, 2005, the company was holding its Christmas party at Brasserie 99 near Denby Dale Road.

He said that the victim, Mr Mack, was joined by his girlfriend, and at about 6.30pm they and a group of friends including Mr Weathers headed off into Wakefield town centre to continue their celebrations after the party, ending up at the Black Swan pub.

Mr Wray said: “Mr Mack was involved in an argument with a man named Howard Steed inside the pub. Mr Weathers approached them and said stop it, and that episode stopped.

“As a result of that the complainant (Mr Mack), his girlfriend and three others left the pub. When they got outside, a man known as ‘Fred’ came out of the pub, shouted at them, and then approached Terry Mack.

“He swung two punches, they missed, and both men began grappling with each other. Pushing and shoving but no blows were exchanged.

“All of a sudden the defendant came running out behind them. He punched the Mr Mack in the temple and that knocked him to the floor. When Mr Mack was on the floor, he stamped on his head two or three times.

“The defendant was pulled off with some assistance and the ambulance and police were called for.”

Mr Wray said that the victim was taken to Pinderfields Hospital where he was treated for a fractured eye socket, cheek bone and jaw.

As the jury examined pictures of his injuries, Mr Wray told them “the fractures were capable of being caused by a fist or a kick”.

Mr Wray said Thornton is also accused of intimidating witness Mark Weathers before his original trial date of December 5.

Mr Wray said: “The defendant was visited by his ex-brother-in-law Alan Sedgwick and said, referring to Mr Weathers, that if he attended court he’d pay some nasty people to deal with him. He said to Mr Sedgwick to tell Mr Weathers this.”

Mr Mack, a sub-contractor for the company, told the jury how the attack had left his jaw permanently “deviated”.

He told the jury that he had drunk a fair amount at the Christmas party and was feeling “merry”.

He said a man he knew as Freddy came at him. “He just came at me and tried to punch me. He said ‘who the f**k do you think you are?’ I just couldn’t understand what was happening, I don’t know why he wanted to fight. He swung a punch and we ended up grappling, and that’s all I can remember – I was out cold.”

Mr Weathers, a joiner for the company, told the jury how threats from Thornton had made him fear that he would be “found at the bottom of the River Calder”.

His appearance masked behind a screen, he told jurors that the argument between Mr Mack and ‘Fred’ outside the pub happened just after he saw Mr Mack arguing with Mr Steed inside the venue.

He said that Alan Sedgwick, who knew Thornton, told him that Thornton said £500 was going to or had exchanged hands to “do him in” if he attended court.

Mr Weathers said: “I was scared, so I said to Alan ‘is he the sort of guy who’d go ahead with this?’ he said ‘yes’.“He knew what sort of car I drove, where I lived and that my girlfriend was four months pregnant.

“I went to the police, I was petrified. I was watching over my shoulder and they (the police) put panic alarms in my bedroom. I’m still scared every night I go to bed now.”

The case continues.