A doorman has been jailed after he lashed out at a nightclub customer who accused him of bullying a drunk man.

Tashan Larmond-Maginn was concerned about the manner in which 6ft 4in tall Lamin Bojan was dealing with another customer.

Bojan punched the victim twice, leaving him with gashes to his nose and lip.

The 44-year-old bouncer, of Parrock Street, Gravesend, denied unlawful wounding, claiming he was acting in self-defence, but was convicted and jailed for 18 months.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Larmond-Maginn intervened when he saw Bojan standing over a drunk customer at Whispers in Parrock Street on May 20 last year.

Mr Larmond-Maginn said in evidence the drunk man was on the floor and Bojan was “dominating” him.

“I had my hands in my pocket,” said Mr Larmond-Maginn. “I said: ‘What are you doing? I have known you for years. He grabbed my arm. I said: ‘Don’t grab me. You are acting like a bully.’

“As soon as I said that he punched me in the face. I stumbled backwards. Blood was squirting from my face. I said: ‘What the ---- do you think you’re doing?’ He has hit me again and split my lip.

“I said: ‘If you want to fight me, fight me like a man.” He said: ‘Come over there and I will do you properly.”

Mr Larmond-Maginn held up photos of his injuries and declared: “Look at my face, man.”

“I was hit by somebody I just bought a drink for – all because he bullied...” - victim Tashan Larmond-Maginn

He had seven stitches in his lip and the wound to his nose was glued.

He agreed his father ran a boxing academy but said he had only boxed himself at the age of 14.

Mr Larmond-Maginn denied he was interfering in Bojang doing his job. He claimed he could hear the doorman telling the drunk man: “I am going to ---- you up.”

He also denied threatening Bojang before he was struck.

“I was hit by somebody I just bought a drink for – all because he bullied,” he added.

Bojan claimed in evidence that the victim had not gone over to help the other man.

“He pushed me,” he told the jury. “I was doing my job. It is not his job. He has been drinking all night. He is a good fighter. When I threw a punch, he swung.”

Prosecutor Ian Foinette suggested: “He was going backwards because you smashed him in the face.”

Bojang replied: “I am not a bully. I don’t like bullies. The boss man said ‘Let me deal with him’. If I don’t take that action it could be him hitting me or stabbing me.

“I am not going to stand there and let somebody kill me. I have seen it. That’s why I said: ‘Stay away from me, nothing to do with you.’ This is a professional fighter.”