Holyhead, UK - The Force must have been with him.
A man who dressed up as Darth Vader has been spared jail time for assaulting the founders of the Jedi Church in Britain.
Twenty-seven-year-old Arwel Wynne Hughes was given a suspended sentence for the crime by a judge in Wales on Tuesday.
Prosecutors told Magistrates' Court in Holyhead that Hughes attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones - a.k.a. Master Jonba Hehol - with a metal crutch, hitting him on the head.
He also whacked Jones' 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones - known as Master Mormi Hehol - bruising his thigh in the March 25 incident.
Hughes claims he was drinking heavily and can't remember the assault.
The two cousins and Barney Jones' brother, Daniel, set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the "Star Wars" films.
The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its website that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life."
"We all love the films and what they stand for. Obviously some people are going to laugh about it," the Wales on Sunday newspaper quoted Barney Jones as saying last month. "But a lot of people do take it seriously."
Unfortunately for Hughes, his March attack was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light sabre battle.
"Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached.
Hughes claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 10-litre box of wine beforehand.
"He knows his behaviour was wrong and didn't want it to happen but he has no recollection of it," said Hughes' lawyer, Frances Jones.
District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.
In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 people - 0.7 per cent of the population - listed Jedi as their religion.
They are not alone - 20,000 Canadians also listed their religion as Jedi in 2001.
With files from The Canadian Press