A SURREY man has been found guilty of affray following a violent brawl at a Llandovery pub and having a Stanley knife in public.

Jordan Pollitt, 28, of Diamedes Avenue in Stanwell, appeared in the dock at Swansea Crown Court over allegations from the evening of November 24 to 25 last year.

He denied the charges, but was convicted by a jury following a four-day trial.

The jury deliberated for just under two and a half hours before returning unanimous guilty verdicts on each count.

The judge, Recorder Simon Hughes, said: “This defendant faces extremely serious criminal charges. It seems to me the basis of the defence was extremely dubious. The jury rejected it.

“He should expect a custodial sentence.”

Pollitt will be sentenced alongside his co-defendants at Newport Crown Court on November 24.

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The jury was told that Pollitt’s co-defendants – Bradley Morgan, 31, Ravensbourne Avenue in Stanwell; Joseph Scholz-Conway, 31, of Weymede in Byfleet; and John Slade, 37, of Clockhouse Lane in Ashford – had previously pleaded guilty to affray.

Prosecutor Hannah George said the group checked in to the Castle Hotel, before heading to The Whitehall at around 9pm on November 24.

Ms George said the group’s behaviour was “unruly, aggressive, and showed no care for the environment they were in”.

After they were confronted by locals and regulars in the pub about their behaviour, a brawl erupted, with Morgan and Slade the “ringleaders”, Ms George said.

Pollitt was not present at first, but returned as the violence erupted. The court heard he then “repeatedly punched” a man to the back of the head.

“[The man] was no threat to the defendant at all,” Ms George said.

Pollitt argued he was assaulted and was acting in self-defence, and in defence of Morgan – his brother-in-law.

The police were called, and Morgan, Scholz-Conway and Slade were identified from the CCTV footage.

Officers went to the Castle Hotel in the early hours of November 25 to arrest the three men. An officer went to the car park at the rear of the building, where Pollitt was. At this stage, he had not been identified as being involved in the incident at the Whitehall.

Pollitt was found to have a Stanley knife in his coat pocket and was “aggressive, rude and provocative” towards the officer, Ms George said, and was arrested.

He said he was a ground worker and had left the knife – which he used for work – in his coat pocket.

Officers identified Pollitt as being involved in the pub brawl after he took his coat off at Brecon Police Station and his clothes matched the ones he was seen wearing on the pub’s CCTV footage.

Recorder Hughes thanked the jury for the attention they gave the case.