A MAN launched an attack at a Rayleigh pub after stepping in to help a landlord who was trying to remove a customer.

Bradley Lara, 30, knocked a man to the ground at the Half Moon pub, in Rayleigh High Street, with just one punch.

He had been out with friends when he saw Charles Willis being asked to leave by the landlord.

The man was a stranger to him but he decided to step in to help the landlord, telling him to get out.

Mr Willis responded by telling him to clear off because it was nothing to do with him.

Prosecutor Lesley Chipps, speaking at Southend Magistrates’ Court, said at this point Lara lost his temper and lashed out.

Lara, of Hampstead Lane, in Yalding, Maidstone, Kent, pleaded guilty to the assault which happened at about 9.30pm on January 18.

He was given an 18 month conditional discharge and must pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.