The timekeeper at a chess boxing match has been found guilty of knocking out a fellow referee who refused to stop a chess game when he rang the bell.
Former cage fighter and boxer Andrew Costello hit victim Rajko Vujatovic so hard he knocked him spark out at the edge of the boxing ring and broke his jaw.
He rushed around the ring in fury and hit Mr Vujatovic because he was furious that he thwarted his attempt to fix the result of the chess boxing match by altering the length of the rounds.
Chess boxing is a new sport which is designed to be a test of brains and brawn. Competitors switch between three minutes of chess and three minute boxing rounds.
Costello was trying to help a friend by altering the balance between the two contrasting disciplines by changing the amount of time the competitors spent on the chess board.
He lost his temper when the chess referee Mr Vujatovic refused to play along with his scheme and allowed the chess game to carry on after he had rung his bell.
CCTV at the event at Club Rococo in Exeter last year showed him rushing to the side of the ring as Mr Vujatovic climbed out and attacking him.
The blow itself was off camera but the injured man could be seen falling unconscious to the floor just at the edge of the picture.
Mr Vujatovic had been trying to explain his decision to let the chess round run to its proper allotted time of three minutes when he was chinned and knocked cold by a single punch from Costello which broke his jaw and prevented him eating solid food for ten weeks.
Costello, aged 47, of Mount Pleasant, Exeter, denied causing grievous bodily harm but was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.
After the verdict the jury were told he has previous convictions for violence, having been jailed for gbh in 2004 and given a suspended sentence for battery in 2009.
Miss Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, said Mr Vujatovic had made a victim impact statement in which he said:"This incident left me deeply shocked and bewildered and it has upset my family.
"The operation to repair my jaw and the treatment for it were extremely unpleasant and I am fearful of further attacks in the future."
During the trial the jury heard how the violence flared during the last bout of the day when the two men disagreed over the timings of the chess game.
Costello was acting as timekeeper and cut it 30 seconds short but Mr Vujatovic went by the chess clocks and allowed it to run on.
CCTV showed Costello rushing out of the club after the attack.
He claimed he was acting in self defence despite being several inches taller and much more heavily built than the victim, who is a chess player rather than a boxer.
Judge Erik Salomonsen adjourned sentence and asked for a probation report. He told Costello he was making no promises about his sentence.
He told him:"You know the form. You have previous convictions for offences of violence. For whatever reason, you assaulted a man who was causing you no trouble.
"He may have been annoying, who knows? That was not your case. You knocked him out and broke his jaw. It was mindless violence between the man who was keeping the bell and the chess referee."
Ends
