A BOOZED-up thug who smashed a glass into the face of a man when a row erupted over whose round it was left his victim blind in one eye.

Morgan Guest reacted angrily when he was asked to pay for a round of drinks and challenged his victim to a fight outside The Dubliners in Stockton in August 2020.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the pair started fighting before Guest grabbed a glass, smashed it and plunged it into the face of his victim.

Judge Paul Watson QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told the 22-year-old his offence was so serious that only immediate custody was an appropriate sentence.

Sentencing him to five years, the judge said: "The victim and his friends had gone out for a quiet drink, he bought a round of drinks, which included you, and when he queried whether you were going to get your round in, you for some utterly inexplicable reason seemed to have completely lost it.

"You were screaming and shouting at him, offering him out to fight. When he got outside there was a fight between you, who struck the first blow does not matter one bit, because the fact remains that at some point you produced a glass which you broke, and used it as a weapon by striking him in the face.

"Witnesses speak of there being blood everywhere and there is no doubt that the injury you caused was of the upmost seriousness.

"The victim, as a result of your blow with that broken glass, suffered multiple lacerations and ultimately the loss of his use of his left eye – he is now blind in that eye with no hope of recovery."

The Northern Echo: Morgan GuestMorgan Guest

In a victim impact statement, the complainant said the injury had a massive affect on his life, not only in the physical disability but because of the mental impact which will stay with him for the rest of his life.

Judge Watson added: "You have no previous convictions and your conduct that evening is unfathomable, as to why a man without previous convictions, would behave in this way.

"I accept your remorse is both genuine and sincere.

"This was an attack with a highly dangerous weapon, a broken glass, causing life-changing injuries both permanent significant disability and disfigurement."

Guest, of Coal Lane, Wolviston, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Robert Mochrie, in mitigation, said the impact of his actions had had a devastating effect on his client since the assault on August 30, 2020.

He said. "He was a victim of his own stupidity that night, a fleeting moment, with a fleeting intent."

Guest was also made subject of an indefinite restraining order.

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