A DUDLEY father of one who fractured a man's skull when he punched him to the ground for talking to his girlfriend in a pub has been jailed for three years.

Nathan Bigby saw red when he spotted Joshua Kirkham holding the woman's coat outside The Stourbridge Lion, said Mr Stuart Clarkson prosecuting.

Mr Kirkham knew the woman from school, he told Wolverhampton Crown Court, but 27-year-old Bigby said: "That's my girl. Don't talk to her. You don't know who I am."

He then appeared to calm down but moments later for no apparent reason he brutally punched Mr Kirkham in the face.

The victim was semi conscious on his back and Bigby punched him once more before being restrained by others when he tried to attack him again.

Bigby from Halesowen Road, Dudley admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and Judge Jinder Singh Boora told him he had to go into custody for what was a serious offence.

"Nothing in your history would suggest you would behave like this," he told Bigby, a plasterer. "You are not a bad person by nature but circumstances can make you bad."

Miss Caroline Harris defending said Bigby had acted completely out of character and he was full of remorse for his actions.

The court was told Mr Kirkham also suffered two nasal bone fractures in the attack by Bigby in the early hours of July 27.