'Wild West' scenes as pool balls and stools thrown in bar brawl

One shocked witness later told police: "It was like the Wild West," Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

A man had five teeth knocked out and a barmaid was hit with a stool while other customers were punched and kicked, revealed Mr Geoffrey Dann, prosecuting.

The fighting stopped during the search for a gold ring lost by one of those involved but broke out again after the missing piece of jewellery had been found, it was said.

Trouble flared after Damian Harley hit a customer with a 'roundhouse punch' after walking into The Strollers bar with his friend, former soldier Robert Tromans, the court heard.

The pair had both been drinking heavily.

A fight started and Tromans joined in when another customer went to the aid of the first person hit, continued the prosecutor.

Mr Dann added: "The two defendants were punching and kicking people and throwing tables and bar stools. The fighting stopped when Harley shouted that he had lost a gold ring and everybody started looking for it. The incident continued after it had been found and more furniture was thrown."

A barmaid was hit with a stool and a man had five teeth knocked out before Harley and Tromans left after hearing that police were on their way to the scene, concluded Mr Dann. Both were arrested soon afterwards.

Miss Wendy Miller, for 32-year-old Harley of Rutland Road, West Bromwich, claimed he threw the punch that started the violence because he 'over reacted' to situations in which he felt threatened because his skull had been fractured by an attacker a year earlier.

Mr Niall Skinner, representing Tromans, 33, from Green Street, West Bromwich said his client joined in 'on behalf of a friend' when the trouble started.

The two defendants each pleaded guilty to affray at The Strollers on August 8 2013(corr) and were both jailed for two years by Recorder Steven Evans who told them: "For no apparent reason and without provocation you started assaulting people after going into a pub."