A FACTORY worker who knocked a man out at a boot sale in a row over a missing purse has been spared jail.Jerzy Cholewinski, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, is today facing the prospect of doing 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a one-year community order given to him by magistrates in Ipswich.

IPSWICH: A factory worker who knocked a man out at a boot sale in a row over a missing purse has been spared jail.

Jerzy Cholewinski, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, is today facing the prospect of doing 150 hours of unpaid work as part of a one-year community order given to him by magistrates in Ipswich.

The 52-year-old must also pay Christian Thompson �250 in compensation for punching him in the face at the Trinity Park car boot sale, on the outskirts of town.

South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court also ordered Cholewinski to pay �85 prosecution costs after he pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to causing actual bodily harm.

Mr Thompson, 44, was left with a split chin and a bruised neck after Cholewinski lashed out, having accused Mr Thompson's wife, Jordan, of stealing his daughter's purse.

Cholewinski's daughter and Mrs Thompson had been chatting as they browsed stalls at the sale on September 27.

When Cholewinski's daughter later realised she had lost her purse, she accused Mrs Thompson of stealing it.

Mrs Thompson invited the defendant's daughter to search her bags and no purse was found. Mrs Thompson was confronted several times and as she and her husband were leaving the park, they were again approached by Cholewinski and his daughter.

Cholewinski demanded the money his daughter had lost be returned and, without warning, delivered a punch to the victim.

At an earlier hearing prosecutor Gareth Davies told the court: “It was a very hard blow, seen by an independent witness who said the victim was knocked out, stone cold.”

Mr Thompson, who has heart problems and suffered a heart attack several years ago, fell to the floor and was left with cuts inside his mouth and bruises on his face.

As paramedics treated Mr Thompson and took him to hospital, police arrested Cholewinski, a Polish national who has lived in the UK for five years with his wife and daughter.

Mr Davies said: “He said he honestly believed the victim had stolen his daughter's purse but was remorseful and regretted his actions.”