Feb 23 - Man Jailed After Glass Attack In Zest Night Club
A man has been jailed for four years after wounding another man with a glass in Zest nightclub. Thomas Harrison, who was 19 at the time of the assault, pleaded guilty last year to one count of wounding with intent.
The incident took place in the early hours of the 18th October last year. Harrison was in the Zest nightclub in Ocean Village when a minor scuffle broke out by the club’s VIP area. Staff members intervened to end the altercation. Although Harrison had not been in involved in this incident, just a few moments later he approached an older man and struck his face with a glass he was holding.
Harrison escaped from the nightclub and handed himself into police a few days later. He pleaded guilty to the offence on 17th December 2014.
Stressing the seriousness of the attack, Crown Counsel Robert Fischel QC said that “words cannot explain what occurred” and played CCTV footage of the glassing for Puisne Judge Karen Prescott to consider during a sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court this morning.
The victim suffered several serious lacerations across his face which required 56 stitches. Mr Fischel said that it was a matter of “sheer luck” that the victim’s eye had not been damaged and went on to explain the negative effects of the injuries on the victim’s life. He said the victim’s injuries required regular care and had affected his speech and made it difficult for him to eat. He added that the attack had damaged his social life and the relationship with his young children.
Patrick Canessa, appearing for the defendant, said that Harrison had expressed regret and remorse. He said that his client had had a difficult upbringing and had reacted “in a regrettable way.”
Ms Justice Prescott, in sentencing, said it was an act of “gratuitous violence” which had resulted in “extensive and lasting injury.” She said that although Harrison had been raised in a violent environment, this merely provided “a reason but not an excuse” for what she described as “an unacceptable way of resolving conflict.” She added that such behaviour in a public place at night “threatened the peaceful recreation” of law-abiding members of society.
She sentenced Harrison to a total of four years in custody.
