A North Yorkshire licensee, jailed for attacking a man, will be free to run another pub when he gets out.
Jack William Lindon, 23, of the Old Ebor in York, stamped on a man's head in Spurriergate, on 18 July last year and has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
However, as the judge did not revoke his personal licence during his sentencing, Lindon will be eligible to take on another pub once out of jail.
Local authorities and police do not have the power to revoke a licence and so Lindon will keep his until it comes to renewal. Personal licences, which came in in 2005, must be renewed every 10 years.
"A judge would normally revoke a licence in those circumstances," said Morning Advertiser legal expert Peter Coulson.
"It can't be revoked now until it is up for renewal."
Lindon has a chance of losing his licence when he comes to renew it as sentences of over six months mean convictions are not spent for 10 years.