A MAN who smashed a glass in the face of a teenager on his first night out with his partner after the birth of their child is starting a prison sentence of more than four years.

Kieron Jewson launched his unprovoked attack in the early hours in a nightclub in Hartlepool, and might leave his victim scarred for life and ruin his boxing career.

Jewson approached the 18-year-old on the dance floor of Reflections, in Church Street, and is said to have asked: "What have you been saying about our lass?’

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said he then hit the teenager in the face with a pint glass, which shattered and showered those nearby with broken glass, and followed up with five or six upper-cut punches.

The victim suffered a 12cm cut from his left eye to his mouth, a shorter cut on the other side of his face, and a cut chin.

Jewson, 28, of Bannockburn Way, Billingham, admitted wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm on April 1, last year, and was jailed for for four years and eight months.

His barrister Laurie Scott said: “He is supported by friends and family in court today and has been able to provide references to the court, all of which shows this offence was out of character.

“His offending all but stopped when he met his partner in 2011. A few months before this incident they had their first child.

“This night out was their first as a couple following the birth, it was never meant to be a heavy drinking evening.

Judge Peter Armstrong said: “There was no justification for what happened. You attacked this young man of only 18 years in a serious way.

“You hit him full in the face with a glass causing serious injuries which will probably scar him for life.

“The main mitigation in this case is you had the courage and good sense to plead guilty at the earliest possible opportunity."