“Too much Christmas spirit” has landed a Smith’s man in prison for two months for his involvement in a drunken bar fight on Christmas Eve.

Herbert Alves, 38, of Ramgoat Hill, said he would not have struck Maurice Harvey in the back of the head, causing grievous bodily harm, if he hadn’t been drinking.

“Honestly, sir, if I wasn’t drinking, I would have walked away,” Alves told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo. “I have to admit I was intoxicated. I had a little too much Christmas spirit and it got me in trouble.”

The two men, who know each other, were drinking at Casey’s Bar on Queen Street when they crossed paths, Magistrates’ Court heard this morning.

Mr Harvey was on his way to the bar for another drink when he crossed Alves, who asked him to go away, prosecutor Carrington Mahoney told the court.

Mr Harvey refused, at which point Alves struck him in the back of the head with an unknown object, causing a laceration serious enough for Mr Harvey to be taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

“He provoked me. I told him to leave but he didn’t listen,” Alves told police at the time. He admitted assault causing grievous bodily harm in court today and was sentenced to 60 days in prison by Mr Tokunbo.