SOLDIERS from a North Yorkshire barracks were regular targets for abuse when they spent a night on the town, a court heard.
Magistrates at Harrogate were told it was not uncommon for personnel from Claro Barracks in Ripon to be the victims of violence, abuse and unruly behaviour.
When a Sapper with 38 Engineer Regiment pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm his s
olicitor Geoffrey Boothby said he had been provoked and had felt threatened.
Kalisito Rabeka, who missed the beginning of a four-week leave period in his native Fiji to be in court, had been drinking with friends in the Matrix nightclub in Kirkgate on February 3 when he launched his attack.
Almighty
His victim had told police: ''He hit me with an almighty blow in the face and I was seeing stars.''
At the club Rabeka had initially been tripped and sent flying to the floor, spilling his drink, by one of a group of three men who then began to leer at him, the court heard.
Mitigating Mr Boothby said that when his friends had gone and left him alone, Rabeka felt vulnerable and threatened. He did not go seeking trouble but as he was leaving he was pushed to the floor. He swore at one of the group who told him: 'If you swear at me mate, I'll kill you'. Rabeka then hit him.
Conditionally discharging Rabeka for a year and ordering costs of £55 and compensation of £1,350, court chairman Gillian Horrox said there had been provocation.
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