WALTER SWINBURN will return to riding out today following a court appearance yesterday. The three time Epsom Derby winner was fined £500 after he admitted assaulting a restaurant owner and damaging a glass door.

Swinburn, 35, said: "Obviously, I am very sorry it happened. I apologise to everyone. I am relieved now it is finished."

The jockey's solicitor Mark Edmondson told Newmarket magistrates: "This is a sad day for Walter Swinburn, and probably a sad day for Newmarket and racing generally."

The Jockey Club did not wish to comment on the case but stressed that Swinburn was in little danger of losing his riding licence. "This is not an incident that is directly connected with racing and the Jockey Club would not wish to say anything about it," said spokesman David Pipe.

"This is not going to cause any problem with the jockey's licence. We'd only start considering things if the jockey was going to prison for the incident was connected to racing."

Swinburn had decided not to ride until the whole matter was cleared up in the courts. "Basically, he has been a recluse, so sad, so ashamed is he about appearing before you today," Edmondson told the magistrates. "He feels he has let an awful lot of people down not only himself."

The court heard that Swinburn had arrived with a woman friend at the Il Piccolo Mondo restaurant in Newmarket on January 22nd at 9.30pm for a meal.

Swinburn, whose manner suggested that he had been drinking, became involved in a disagreement with the restaurant owner Elio Ripa. He first punched him on the left hand side of his neck and then on the nose, causing it to bleed, the court was told.

After hitting Ripa for the first time, Swinburn pulled open the glass door of the restaurant, causing it to strike a fire behind and smash.

Swinburn's solicitor said the jockey had not drunk a lot during the evening and he was concerned as to why he had become drunk so quickly.

Doctors believed that that may be related to a horrifying racing accident he had suffered in Hong Kong in February last year which left him with serious head and chest injuries.

One of the side effects of those injuries was that Swinburn now suffered from an eating disorder.

Swinburn was ordered to pay a fine of £550 for common assault. No penalty was imposed for the criminal damage conviction but Swinburn was ordered to pay Ripa £389.87 compensation fir the damage to the door.

Swinburn was also ordered to pay £250 compensation for the personal injuries caused and £55 costs.