Man who struck victim with glass is spared jail (From Daily Echo)

Suspended sentence for man who hit fellow drinker with pint glass

1:10pm Tuesday 21st February 2012 in Southampton

A JUDGE spared a man who struck another drinker with a pint glass from a prison sentence after accepting the victim had behaved inappropriately towards his mother who had been sitting alongside him.

Southampton Crown Court heard Michael Ventham was left with a two-inch cut on his forehead and his face was covered in blood after Christopher Ring threw the glass in the South Western Arms in Adelaide Road, Southampton.

Prosecutor Christopher Hewertson said Ring later cycled down the road and hurled a stone through Mr Ventham’s window.

Ring, 25, of Pinewood Way, Salisbury, admitted battery, witness intimidation and criminal damage.

Giving him a nine-month suspended sentence, Judge Peter Henry said he took into account that at least one witness had spoken about the “inappropriate way” the victim had been acting towards his mother. “You were in drink and I sentence you on the basis that quite impulsively and recklessly, and not aiming at him, you struck him on the head.”

Ring also received 18 months' supervision with an order to carry out 150 hours' unpaid work and pay £150 compensation.