Zutons singer sentenced over drink-fuelled assault

Dave McCabe, 29, butted Peter Appleby during an alcohol-fuelled row outside a nightclub in Liverpool.

McCabe, who wrote the hit song Valerie which was covered by Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson, reacted with violence after one of Mr Appleby's friends mocked his girlfriend's fur-collared coat, saying it looked like she had a beard.

She overheard and challenged the group, asking "Why don't you grow up?"

The singer-songwriter, of Vale Road, Liverpool, apologised for her outburst but told the group not to pick on them. He butted Mr Appleby, who had downed six pints of Guinness, thinking he was about to be attacked, he said. But the jury unanimously convicted him of assault during a three-day trial in September.

Yesterday defence barrister Henry Gow said McCabe, who had no previous convictions, regretted the clash, which was an over-reaction from an otherwise very decent man.