A BUILDER thumped a fellow worker, breaking his jaw in two places, after a row on site, a court has heard.

Samuel Coates-Calkin denies one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm alleged to have taken place in Benson on May 22 last year.

Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim the 27-year-old of Ashton Road, Newbury, ‘lost his temper’ before launching the attack on his colleague at the Cala Homes building site.

Outlining the case before jurors at the start of his trial yesterday, prosecutor Alexandra Bull said Coates-Calkin’s alleged victim was left with a fractured jaw from the attack.

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She said the violence happened at about 11.20am when both men were working on a garage, before an argument broke out.

She said: “[Coates-Calkin] stood close to [his alleged victim] and told him he was p***ing him off.

“The victim said it was just banter and turned away from him. At this point Coates-Calkin punched him to the face hitting him in the lower left of his jaw.”

Not long after, jurors were told, the victim reported the assault to colleagues and sought medial treatment.

When his friends arrived, jurors were told, Coates-Calkin ‘apologised’ to the man and offered to leave the site.

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Prosecutors said that X-rays later showed that the attack had left him with two fractures.

When Coates-Calkin attended a police station not long after for an interview, the court heard, he answered no comment to most of the questions put to him.

In a defence statement later provided by Coates-Calkin to the court he claimed that his alleged victim had actually ‘bullied’ him and had acted aggressively that day.

He added that the injury caused had in fact been an accident.

The trial – expected to last three days – continues.