A PUB-GOER who called a man “a chav” was knocked out by a punch thrown in return.

Darren Moore had drunk seven pints of cider at the Hobgoblin, in Bicester, when he made the remark to Andrew Hillier. Hillier punched him in the face, causing him to crack his head on the floor.

Hillier, 25, of Station Road, Marsh Gibbon, admitted unlawful wounding at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Kevin West, prosecuting, said Mr Moore did not mean the comments offensively.

He said: “At roundabout 11.30pm he said the words ‘you’re my favourite chav, you are’.

“Mr Hillier’s reply was ‘I’m not a chav’ and he punched him once to the face.”

Mr Moore was unconscious for about two minutes and needed 12 stitches following the attack on April 17, 2009.

James Shepherd, defending, said his client, a self-employed builder, “has always expressed remorse”.

Hillier was given four months’ jail, suspended for a year, and told to pay £750 compensation and do 100 hours’ unpaid work.