by Keith Hunt

A drunk father who glassed a man he mistakenly believed was kissing his girlfriend at a Medway nightclub has walked free.

Stephen Gannon, who had downed 15 Jack Daniels and cokes as well as other drinks, left Andrew Hart with cuts and bruises to his face in the violence at Preach in Gillingham.

But the 25-year-old construction worker "exceptionally" escaped with a suspended sentence after a judge told him: "That is to give you an opportunity to consider what you have done and to know you have a permanent blot on your character."

The victim was dancing with a female friend in the early hours on June 26 last year when Gannon "punched" him in the face.

"He did not know why," prosecutor Jo Cope told Maidstone Crown Court.

"He understood a glass or bottle struck him. He ran off and spoke to bar staff."

Mr Hart needed an immediate operation on one of his eyes.

When arrested, Gannon admitted: "It is my fault. I thought he was hitting on my girlfriend and I hit him. I know I hit him hard. I had a glass in my hand."

His girlfriend was celebrating her birthday, he said, and on a scale of one to 10 for drunkenness, he was about eight.

The woman dancing with Mr Hart, he said, looked identical to his girlfriend and he thought she was kissing another man.

"When I realised it was not my girlfriend, I felt awful," he said.

Gannon, of Waterside Lane, Gillingham, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work. He will be subject to a tagged curfew from 8pm to 5am for five months.

Recorder James Roberts told Gannon: "This was a disgraceful assault which resulted in serious injury and, potentially, the victim could have lost his sight."

Recorder Roberts declined to order either compensation or court costs.