A PSYCHIATRIC patient thrust a broken bottle into the face of a support worker during a trip to the pub, a court heard.

Daley Thompson, 28, was angry that the member of staff from the mental health unit in Darlington would not let him have alcohol.

He smashed a bottle on the bar of the White Horse, on North Road, and shoved it into the woman's face - leaving her needing surgery.

The victim has also had to give up work, have counselling, is afraid to leave her home, and said: "I'm a totally different person now."

A judge ordered Thompson, of Inverness Road, Hartlepool, to be detained in a medium-secure hospital until he is deemed safe for release.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he suffers from "treatment-resistant" bi-polar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia and drug-induced psychosis.

A forensic psychiatrist said he has a "warm personality" behind his illness, but said the public need to be protected from him.

Judge Howard Crowson told Thompson: "You have some understanding of the harm you caused this lady, and it something you, perhaps, regret.

"It has had a big effect on her, and if it were not for your illness, I would be passing a prison sentence that would last a long time.

"I know that you are someone who is poorly, and you need treatment, and have been receiving treatment. You are in a good place to receive it."

Prosecutor Rachel Masters said the support worker needed two operations to remove shards of glass from her suspected broken nose.

Thompson - who was accompanied by another member of staff, and with another patient - calmly walked out of the pub and back to hospital.

In her statement, the victim said: "I no longer fell safe even in my own home. I feel this incident has affected my whole family.

"My children and grandchildren rely on me for lifts, but I cannot guarantee I can help, because I might find it too stressful.

"I am a totally different person to how I was before the incident, and I don't like to be out of the house. I'm nervous."

Thompson admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on February 24 last year at an earlier court hearing.