A soldier will stand trial just days before he is due to be sent to fight in Afghanistan.
Tank driver Lawrence Cumberpatch has denied assaulting a man at a Brighton nightclub.
Cumberpatch, 22, is said to have punched Danny Beram at the Honey Club on Brighton seafront.
The soldier, based at the Royal Tank Regiment’s barracks in Tidworth, Hampshire, pleaded not guilty to assault by beating.
Cumberpatch, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Sonia Flijani, prosecuting, said the incident happened at the Honey Club on February 15. Cumberpatch, who represented himself, said he was due to be posted to Afghanistan for six months on May 27.
Magistrates adjourned the case until April 24 when a date for his trial will be fixed.
It is likely to take place on May 20, just a week before Cumberpatch is due to leave for Afghanistan.
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