A father-of-two who punched a man unconscious in a bar, splitting his head open and causing him to lose two teeth, walked free from court yesterday.Richard Brown, 36, hugged his tearful wife after receiving a six-month conditional discharge for assault causing grievous bodily harm to 32-year-old Matthew Claridge.He made a payment of $27,000 to Mr Claridge after the attack: $17,000 to cover medical expenses and $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill.Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said yesterday the “early and generous reparation to the victim” must not be seen as Brown “buying justice or buying your way out”.Mr Tokunbo added: “I don't see it as that but I take note of it. I have characterised it as generous.”British guest worker Brown, a mechanical engineer, admitted the GBH charge at a hearing in April, when the court heard he told police he lost control in Docksiders bar on December 5 after a “disparaging remark about his wife”.He'd previously entered a not guilty plea on his first appearance in court in January.Mr Claridge, in his victim impact statement, denied making any comment to provoke the assault. His full statement was not read out in court.Mr Tokunbo yesterday offered to hold what's known as a “Newton hearing” to determine which account was accurate; Brown's lawyer Allan Doughty declined to do so.Prosecutor Tawana Tannock said Brown should receive a maximum three-year jail term.She said the punch knocked out one of Mr Claridge's teeth and another had to be removed later. The victim, who works for Validus Re and is also a guest worker from the UK, needed stitches in his lip, and glue to close a gash in his head.“The Crown submits that the offender is solely to blame for his actions. It was his decision to respond or behave in the way that he did.”Mr Doughty, mitigating, said his client “immediately realised that he had done something terrible” after punching Mr Claridge and “immediately moved to make amends”.He added: “The sum of this $27,000 is quite significant. You'll know from the social inquiry report he's looking for new, less expensive, accommodation. Paying the $27,000, which was the right thing to do, is affecting his standard of living but Mr Brown understands the gravity of what he has done.“What I would say is this actually speaks to Mr Brown's character. There are no prior convictions that are brought before this court.“Not only is Mr Brown a man of good character, he's a man of exemplary character.”Mr Doughty said Brown stood to “lose his livelihood” if given a conviction and sentence, as he would undoubtedly have his work permit revoked and could lose his licence to practise his profession in his home country.He suggested a conditional discharge would be appropriate, adding: “I appreciate that what I'm asking is extraordinary.”Brown told Mr Tokunbo: “I'm deeply remorseful for what I did. I immediately knew it was wrong.“In normal circumstances, I would never react to anything said to me in that way. Unfortunately, my wife was eight months pregnant at that time, which caused me to lose control for a split second. This occurrence will never, ever happen again.”The court heard from a probation officer that the defendant, of Glenwood Park Crescent, Warwick, posed zero risk of reoffending and was “remorseful and willing to accept any sentence handed down to him”.Mr Tokunbo said he viewed the case as “different from the ordinary case of violence”.“I'm prepared to accept this was a one-off occurrence in your case,” he told Brown. “To your credit you have no previous convictions.“You are otherwise known as a person of good character. You have admitted culpability from the very beginning. You expressed early genuine and continuing remorse. I accept that it was genuine.”He added: “I suspect you won't commit this crime again. I don't expect you to come back here.”He told the defendant if he didn't offend again in the next six months there would be no conviction recorded against him. Brown agreed to abide by the conditions that he notify probation if he plans to leave the Island or changes his address.Closed-circuit television footage of the assault was leaked to The Royal Gazette yesterday and is at www.royalgazette.com.It shows Mr Claridge and Brown speaking to one another in the bar, with the latter putting his arm around the former.Moments later, Mr Claridge begins speaking to another person and Brown appears to pass his drink to a man next to him before turning and punching Mr Claridge hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.Brown takes back his drink and takes another drink from it before walking away from the scene. Onlookers can be seen gathering around Mr Claridge, who was taken by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial.Mr Claridge declined to comment on the verdict yesterday.Anthony White, co-owner of Docksiders, said: “We have a zero tolerance to any criminal activity and we will always do everything we can to facilitate the police in their inquiries.”